fiddle vs manipulate

fiddle

verb
  • To fidget or play; to idly amuse oneself, to act aimlessly, idly, or frivolously, particularly out of nervousness or restlessness. 

  • To play the fiddle or violin, particularly in a folk or country style. 

  • To cheat or swindle; to commit fraud. 

  • Synonym of tinker, to make small adjustments or improvements. 

noun
  • Synonym of workaround, a quick and less than perfect solution for some flaw or problem. 

  • A rack for drying pottery after glazing. 

  • A dock (Rumex pulcher) with leaves supposed to resemble the musical instrument. 

  • Synonym of clown: an unserious person entertaining a group. 

  • Any rail or device that prevents items from sliding off a table, stove, etc. in rough water. 

  • Synonym of violin, a small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow; the position of a violinist in a band; (usually proscribed) any of various bowed stringed instruments, particularly those of the violin family when played non-classically. 

  • A long pole pulled by a draft animal to drag loose straw, hay, etc. 

manipulate

verb
  • To influence or control someone in order to achieve a specific purpose, especially one that is unknown to the one being manipulated and beneficial to the manipulator; to use 

  • To move, arrange or operate something using the hands 

  • To handle and move a body part, either as an examination or for a therapeutic purpose 

  • To influence, manage, direct, control or tamper with something 

How often have the words fiddle and manipulate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )