▪ I. fidget, n.
(ˈfɪdʒɪt)
[f. fidge v., perh. in imitation of rickets.]
1. A condition of vague physical uneasiness, seeking relief in irregular bodily movements. App. first used in the fidget(s (now always pl.) as if the name of a malady or pathological symptom (sometimes in definite pathological sense: see quot. 1876). Hence transf. a condition or mood of impatient uneasiness or restlessness.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 134 'Tis a..thing that has got the fidget. 1750 Gray Long Story xxxiv, Jesu Maria! Madam Bridget..(Cried the Square-hoods in woeful fidget). 1753 World No. 7. 39 Fits of the fidgets. 1778 F. Burney Diary Aug., I was really in the fidgets from thinking what my reception might be. 1781 Cowper Conversation 208 Weavers of long tales Give me the fidgets. 1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. I. 45 Their arrival, owing to the fidget and hurry of Mrs. Mourtray, was somewhat premature. 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. Le Sage's Gil Blas (1866) vii. vii. 245 Her tongue was cruelly on the fidget to be let loose. 1837 Howitt Rur. Life vi. viii. (1862) 484 The landlady and her daughter are on the fidgets. 1839 E. FitzGerald Lett. I. 51, I have got the fidgets in my right arm. 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. (1865) 41 Palmer..still..felt..some fidget and nervousness. 1876 Bartholow Mat. Med. (1879) 403 Wakefulness from..unrest of the peripheral nerves (fidgets), and similar causes, will generally be relieved by the bromides. 1893 Dunglison Dict. Med. (ed. 21), Fidgets. |
2. [From the vb.] One who fidgets or worries unnecessarily, or who causes the fidgets in others.
| 1816 M. E. Bicknell Let. 19 Mar. in Constable's Corr. (1964) II. 182 You know what a sad fidget I am. 1837 F. Cooper Recoll. Europe I. 208 He..betrayed himself immediately to be a fidget. 1881 M. E. Herbert Edith 159 Lord St. Aubyn is a terrible fidget. 1882 Three in Norway ii. 10 Dispense with that creaking-booted fidget, the waiter. |
3. [From the vb.] The action or habit of fidgeting, bustling about or worrying; also the rustling of a dress, etc.
| 1860–1 F. Nightingale Nursing 36 The fidget of silk and of crinoline. 1890 Spectator 15 Nov., The policy of legislative fidget carried to the most mischievous excess. |
▪ II. fidget, n.2 dial.
(ˈfɪdʒɪt)
Also 8– fitchet.
[Of uncertain origin: identified by Eng. Dial. Dict. with fitchet n., polecat, app. from the strong, unpleasant odour of the pie while being baked. Assimilated to fidget n.1]
fidget pie, a savoury pie containing onions, apples, (potatoes) and bacon.
| 1790 Grose Provincial Gloss. (ed. 2) sig. E2v, Fitchet-pie, a pie given in the North and in Cheshire to the reapers at harvest-home, composed of apples, onions, and the fat of bacon, in equal quantities. 1857 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 7 Dec. (1966) 487 If you will send me over a pie-receipt,..I'll beat it, by an equally original one,—namely a ‘Cheshire-fitchet-pie’; which is excessively good. 1946 Farmhouse Fare 88 Huntingdon Fidget Pie..Put 1 layer of apples at the bottom of a pie-dish..a layer of sliced onions..a layer of bacon...Cover with a good pastry crust, and bake. 1984 Listener 13 Dec. 19/3 When was the last time you went into a hotel or restaurant and found casseroled ormers,..fidget pie..or potted hough? |
▪ III. fidget, v.
(ˈfɪdʒɪt)
Pples. fidgeted, -eting (often incorrectly with double t).
[f. prec. n.]
1. intr. To make movements indicative of impatience, restlessness, or uneasiness; to move restlessly to and fro. Also, to fidget about.
| 1754 [see fidgeting ppl. a.]. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. iv. iv. (1849) 217 The governor snapping his fingers and fidgeting with delight. 1827 Lytton Pelham iii. 18 Davison fidgeted about in his chair. 1849 Dickens Barn. Rudge i, Joe..had been fidgeting in his chair with divers uneasy gestures. 1858 R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma xxxiii. 138 The Major..has been fidgetting about pairing parties off. 1867 J. Hatton Tallants of B. xviii, The chairman fidgetted uneasily in his seat. |
b. To be uneasy; to worry.
| 1884 Manch. Exam. 25 Nov. 5/1 They can but fidget and fume. 1884 J. H. Ewing Mary's Meadow (1886) 58 Mother fidgetted because I looked ill. |
2. trans. To cause (a person) to fidget; to make uncomfortable, trouble or worry; refl. to take trouble. to fidget into: to force into a specified condition by fidgeting; hyperbolically, to fidget to death.
| 1785 [see fidgeting ppl. a.]. 1815 Jane Austen Emma ii. ix. 197 She says I fidget her to death. 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney I. 85 The fever into which I had fidgetted myself. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 55 Spaniards never fidget themselves to get quickly to places where nobody is expecting them. 1847 Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole xxv. (1879) 229 The heat fidgetted them all by day. |
3. To move about restlessly and uneasily. rare.
| 1819 Metropolis I. 86 Fan-flirting, and fidgetting the body about. |
Hence ˈfidgeted ppl. a., ˈfidgeting vbl. n.
| 1765 C. Smart Fable iv. in Poems (1791) II. 11 Susan..all the rites of rage perform'd, As scolding..fidgetting, and fretting. 1775 F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 17 ‘How can you say so, Sir?’ cried Bell..colouring, and much fidgetted. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 66 Nothing is gained by fidgeting and over-doing. |