fiddle-head

fiddle-head (n.): also fiddlehead, "one with a head as hollow as a fiddle," 1854 (fiddleheaded), from fiddle (n.) + head (n.). As a name for young fern fronds, from 1877, from resemblance to a violin's scroll. Earliest use is nautical, "carved ornamental work at the bow of a ship in the form of a scroll or volute" (1799).
There are three kinds of heads,--1st The Figure-head is one on which is placed the figure of a man, woman, or the like, &c.; 2d, The Billet-head, or Scroll-head is one finished with two scrolls or volutes ...; and 3d, the Fiddle-head, which is finished with only one scroll or volute, having the spirals turning inwards to the vessel. [Peter Hedderwick, "Treatise on Marine Architecture," Edinburgh, 1830]

1. Police investigating a ￡10 million car insurance fiddle arrested 16 people yesterday.: 調(diào)查涉及1,000萬(wàn)英鎊的汽車保險(xiǎn)詐騙案的警察昨天逮捕了16人。

4. Hardy as a young man played the fiddle at local dances.: 哈迪年輕時(shí)在當(dāng)?shù)匚钑?huì)上演奏小提琴。

5. He brought out the fiddle, its varnish cracked and blistered.: 他取出了小提琴，它表面的清漆已出現(xiàn)裂縫，還起了浮泡。