To fidget, trifle, or waste time with frivolous or pointless activities; to move or handle something nervously or ineffectually.
Origin uncertain; possibly related to 'frib' or derived from Dutch 'fribelen' meaning 'to trifle.' The word gained currency in 18th-century English, often used derisively to describe idle behavior or wasted effort.
A 'fribble' was an 18th-century type of fashionable but frivolous person—men more concerned with appearance and socializing than serious matters. The word captures a very specific social critique of its era, and reading about fribbles in historical texts gives us a window into period attitudes about masculinity and duty.
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