piddling

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pid·dling

(pĭd′lĭng)

adj.

So trifling or trivial as to be beneath one's consideration.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

piddling

(ˈpɪdlɪŋ) or

piddly

adj

informal petty; trifling; trivial

ˈpiddlingly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pid•dling

(ˈpɪd lɪŋ)

adj.

trifling; negligible.

[1550–60]

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Adj.

piddling - (informal) small and of little importance; "a fiddling sum of money"; "a footling gesture"; "our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war"; "a little (or small) matter"; "a dispute over niggling details"; "limited to petty enterprises"; "piffling efforts"; "giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction"

fiddling, footling, niggling, picayune, piffling, trivial, petty, lilliputian, little

colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech

unimportant - not important; "a relatively unimportant feature of the system"; "the question seems unimportant"

piddling

adjective (Informal) trivial, little, petty, worthless, insignificant, pants (informal), useless, fiddling, trifling, unimportant, paltry, Mickey Mouse (slang), puny, derisory, measly (informal), crappy (slang), toytown (slang), piffling, poxy (slang), nickel-and-dime (U.S. slang), wanky (taboo slang), chickenshit (U.S. slang) arguing over piddling amounts of money
major, important, significant, useful, considerable, substantial, valuable, tidy (informal), sizable or sizeable

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

piddling

adjective

Contemptibly unimportant:

inconsiderable, negligible, niggling, nugatory, paltry, petty, picayune, small, small-minded, trifling.

Slang: measly.

Idiom: of no account.

Translations

insignificante

piddling

[ˈpɪdlɪŋ] ADJ → ridículo, irrisorio

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

piddling

[ˈpɪdlɪŋ] adj [amount, job, detail] → insignifiant(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

piddling

adj (inf) → lächerlich

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

piddling

[ˈpɪdlɪŋ] adj (fam) → insignificante

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in periodicals archive ?

It's just that my aging brain requires absolution in this most piddling of matters.

I've got to know!

IS anyone else utterly baffled at an international break imposed on Europe's leagues, as they reach their climax, for a couple of piddling friendlies.

Easter's time to egg on clubs

In which case 20 grand seems piddling when the rest of the family shared PS15.2million plus homes worth PS11million more.

Anyone who had a heart

AND the BBC piddling away PS12million on a Cornish tourism film (Poldark) with laughable yokel jargon: "Ain't no call to accuse us, Mr Ross.

SCRAPING THE BARREL

The issue with these funding settlements would not have changed even had the Government managed to stump up 10 times this piddling PS143,000 increase.

They're taking the rise

Suzy will entertain younger readers, as her naughtiness involves piddling in golf bags, biting ankles, sharpening claws on sofas and burying warm cat poo in the garden--annoying everyone in the Baggot family with her antics.

Ross, Tony: Drat that Cat!

Sadly, none of this gives the true picture, which is that we all pay for the piddling hand-out to Amlwch plus the huge profits reaped by the developer for this devastating scar on the landscape of Ynys Mon.

Small recompense for scar on island; LETTERS

Well now you don't have to, and thanks to this glow in the dark toilet roll you'll won't end up piddling in the wardrobe by mistake ever again either.

Big boys' toys; Having your own place can be bit of a drag sometimes, what with all the chores to be done and bills to pay. Don't worry though, as Nathan Bevan's got three cool ways to help make bachelordom far easier

But it shouldn't have been for a piddling few races.

How to beat the bullies

"What a piddling, piffling pack of political pygmies the Tories are" - Labour MP Paul Flynn on the decision to close the M4 bus lane and the ban on taxpayer-funded Christmas trees for Downing Street.

They say

piddling I mean, how dare some uppity police officer complain about being pensioner protecting struck by the Prince's car, right?

Royals should not be kept above the law of the land

I've known for years, since visiting America, this piddling little island and its government ain't going to tell the big boys in this world what to do.