{ } a. [ OE. bedrede, AS. bedreda, bedrida; from bed, bedd, a bed or couch + ridda a rider; cf. OHG. pettiriso, G. bettrise. See Bed, n., and Ride, v. i. ] Confined to the bed by sickness or infirmity. “Her decrepit, sick, and bedrid father.” Shak. “The estate of a bedridden old gentleman.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Obedient; docile. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. of Bid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. biddere. ] One who bids or offers a price. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ From Beder or Bidar a town in India. ] A kind of metallic ware made in India. The material is a composition of zinc, tin, and lead, in which ornaments of gold and silver are inlaid or damascened. [ Spelt also bidry, bidree, bedery, beder. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Command; order; a proclamation or notifying. “Do thou thy master's bidding.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or process of making bids; an offer; a proposal of a price, as at an auction. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (R. C. Ch.) The prayer for the souls of benefactors, said before the sermon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Angl. Ch.) The prayer before the sermon, with petitions for various specified classes of persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A familiar form of Bridget. ] An Irish serving woman or girl. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Etymology uncertain. ] A name used in calling a hen or chicken. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who bids at an auction in behalf of the auctioneer or owner, for the purpose of running up the price of articles. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A chicken; a fowl; also, a trivial term of endearment for a child. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Cf. Daddle. ] To totter, as a child in walking. [ Obs. ] Quarles. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Perh. from AS. dyderian to deceive, the letter r being changed to l. ] To cheat or overreach. [ Colloq. ] Beaconsfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A cheat. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Jeremy Diddler, a character in a play by James Kenney, entitled “Raising the wind.” The name is applied to any needy, tricky, constant borrower; a confidence man. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. fidele, fithele, AS. fiðele; akin to D. vedel, OHG. fidula, G. fiedel, Icel. fiðla, and perh. to E. viol. Cf. Viol. ] 1. (Mus.) A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped leaves; -- called also fiddle dock. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fiddle beetle (Zool.), a Japanese carabid beetle (Damaster blaptoides); -- so called from the form of the body. --
Fiddle block (Naut.), a long tackle block having two sheaves of different diameters in the same plane, instead of side by side as in a common double block. Knight. --
Fiddle bow, fiddlestick. --
Fiddle fish (Zool.), the angel fish. --
Fiddle head, See fiddle head in the vocabulary. --
Fiddle pattern, a form of the handles of spoons, forks, etc., somewhat like a violin. --
Scotch fiddle, the itch. (Low) --
To play first fiddle, or
To play second fiddle, to take a leading or a subordinate part. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Fiddled p. pr. & vb. n. Fiddling ] 1. To play on a fiddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To keep the hands and fingers actively moving as a fiddler does; to move the hands and fingers restlessy or in busy idleness; to trifle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers. Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To play (a tune) on a fiddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

interj. An exclamatory word or phrase, equivalent to nonsense! [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A trifle; trifling talk; nonsense. [ Colloq. ] Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To talk nonsense. [ Colloq. ] Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. any of several tall ferns of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes.
Syn. -- ostrich fern, shuttlecock fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Pteretis struthiopteris, Onoclea struthiopteris. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. New World fern (Osmunda cinnamonea) having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds, called also fiddlehead fern; the early uncurling fronds are edible, and sometimes considered as a vegetable delicacy.
Syn. -- cinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, Osmunda cinnamonea. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. (Naut.) an ornament on a ship's bow, curved like the volute or scroll at the head of a violin. Sometimes it serves the function of a billhead. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. hairy annual plant (Phacelia tanacetifolia) of California to Mexico with crowded cymes of small blue to lilac or mauve flowers.
Syn. -- Phacelia tanacetifolia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ AS. fiðelere. ] 1. One who plays on a fiddle or violin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle, hence the name; -- called also fiddler crab, calling crab, soldier crab, and fighting crab. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) The common European sandpiper (Tringoides hypoleucus); -- so called because it continually oscillates its body. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fiddler crab. (Zool.) See Fiddler, n., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Inversely ovate, with a deep hollow on each side. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. shaped like a fiddle; -- of a leaf shape.
Syn. -- pandurate, panduriform. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The bow, strung with horsehair, used in playing the fiddle; a fiddle bow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One of the catgut strings of a fiddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Corrupted fr. F. bois-fidèle, lit., faithful wood; -- so called from its durability. ] The wood of several West Indian trees, mostly of the genus Citharexylum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of forbidding; prohibition; command or edict against a thing. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

How hast thou yield to transgress
The strict forbiddance. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Prohibited; interdicted. [ 1913 Webster ]

I know no spells, use no forbidden arts. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Forbidden fruit. (a) Any coveted unlawful pleasure, -- so called with reference to the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. (b) (Bot.) A small variety of shaddock (Citrus decumana). The name is given in different places to several varieties of Citrus fruits. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a forbidden or unlawful manner. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who forbids. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Repelling approach; repulsive; raising abhorrence, aversion, or dislike; disagreeable; prohibiting or interdicting; as, a forbidding aspect; a forbidding formality; a forbidding air.

Syn. -- Disagreeable; unpleasant; displeasing; offensive; repulsive; odious; abhorrent.

-- For*bid"ding*ly, adv. -- For*bid"ding*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a giddy manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being giddy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Giddier superl. Giddiest. ] [ OE. gidi mad, silly, AS. gidig, of unknown origin, cf. Norw. gidda to shake, tremble. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Having in the head a sensation of whirling or reeling about; having lost the power of preserving the balance of the body, and therefore wavering and inclined to fall; lightheaded; dizzy. [ 1913 Webster ]

By giddy head and staggering legs betrayed. Tate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Promoting or inducing giddiness; as, a giddy height; a giddy precipice. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

Upon the giddy footing of the hatches. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Bewildering on account of rapid turning; running round with celerity; gyratory; whirling. [ 1913 Webster ]

The giddy motion of the whirling mill. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Characterized by inconstancy; unstable; changeable; fickle; wild; thoughtless; heedless. “Giddy, foolish hours.” Rowe. “Giddy chance.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Young heads are giddy and young hearts are warm. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To reel; to whirl. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make dizzy or unsteady. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person without thought fulness, prudence, or judgment. [ Colloq. ] Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Thoughtless; unsteady. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Moving irregularly; flighty; fickle. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. p. p. of Glide. Chaucer.

{ } a. [ Cf. Glide. ] Giving no sure footing; smooth; slippery. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Shingle, slates, and gliddery stones. R. D. Blackmore. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. gredil, gredl, gridel, of Celtic origin; cf. W. greidell, Ir. greideal, greideil, griddle, gridiron, greadaim I burn, scorch. Cf. Gridiron. ] 1. An iron plate or pan used for cooking cakes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sieve with a wire bottom, used by miners. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A cake baked or fried on a griddle, esp. a thin batter cake, as of buckwheat or common flour. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. mentally anguished due to feelings of guilt{ 3 }.
Syn. -- guilt-sick. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Ridden by a hag or witch; hence, afflicted with nightmares; tormented or harassed by nightmares or unreasonable fears. Beattie. Cheyne.
Syn. -- tormented. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

hagridden . . . by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth C. S. Lewis

p. p. & a. from Hide. Concealed; put out of view; secret; not known; mysterious. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hidden fifths or
Hidden octaves (Mus.), consecutive fifths or octaves, not sounded, but suggested or implied in the parallel motion of two parts towards a fifth or an octave.

Syn. -- Hidden, Secret, Covert. Hidden may denote either known to on one; as, a hidden disease; or intentionally concealed; as, a hidden purpose of revenge. Secret denotes that the thing is known only to the party or parties concerned; as, a secret conspiracy. Covert literally denotes what is not open or avowed; as, a covert plan; but is often applied to what we mean shall be understood, without openly expressing it; as, a covert allusion. Secret is opposed to known, and hidden to revealed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bring to light the hidden things of darkness. 1 Cor. iv. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

My heart, which by a secret harmony
Still moves with thine, joined in connection sweet. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

By what best way,
Whether of open war, or covert guile,
We now debate. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ After W. E. Hidden. ] (Min.) An emerald-green variety of spodumene found in North Carolina; lithia emerald, -- used as a gem. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a hidden manner. [ 1913 Webster ]