mess about

mess about
phrasal verb mess about or mess around
Word forms "mess about":
present tense I/you/we/they mess about he/she/it messes about present participle messing about past tense messed about past participle messed about British informal
1) [intransitive] to behave in a silly way, especially when you should be working or paying attention to something

Stop messing about – I'm serious about this!

2) [intransitive] to spend time doing things in a relaxed way

We spent the weekend messing about on John's boat.

3) mess someone about
[transitive] to treat someone badly, especially by changing your mind or by not doing what you promised
4) [intransitive] to waste time doing things that are not important

There's no point messing about. Let's start now.

not mess about:

They don't mess about, do they? I ordered the book yesterday and it's already come.

5) [intransitive] to try to change or repair something, especially when this is unnecessary or unsuccessful
mess about with:

He'll spend hours messing about with that motorbike.

6) [intransitive] to have sex or a sexual relationship with someone, especially when you should not
mess about with:

Diane's been messing around with a married man.


English dictionary. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • mess about — (BE) see mess around * * * [ mesə baʊt] (BE) see mess around …   Combinatory dictionary

  • mess about — verb be about The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square Who is this man that is hanging around the department? • Syn: ↑loiter, ↑lounge, ↑footle, ↑lollygag, ↑loaf, ↑lallygag, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • mess about with somebody — ˌmess aˈround with sb derived (BrE also ˌmess aˈbout with sb) to have a sexual relationship with sb, especially when you should not Main entry: ↑messderived …   Useful english dictionary

  • mess about/around — POTTER ABOUT, pass the time, fiddle about/around, footle about/around, play about/around, fool about/around; fidget, toy, trifle, tamper, tinker, interfere, meddle, monkey (about/around); informal piddle about/ …   Useful english dictionary

  • mess around (with something) mess about (with something); — AND monkey around (with something) in. to play with or fiddle with something. □ Don’t mess around with the ashtray. □ You’ l l break it if you don’t stop monkeying around with it …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • mess about/around — Syn: potter about, fiddle about/around, footle about/around, play about/around, fool about/around, fidget, toy, trifle, tamper, tinker, interfere, meddle, monkey (about/around); Brit.; informal muck about/around …   Synonyms and antonyms dictionary

  • mess about/around — behave in a silly way. ↘occupy oneself in a pleasantly desultory way. → mess …   English new terms dictionary

  • mess about (with someone) — Go to mess around (with someone) …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • mess about — loiter, remain idle in one place …   English contemporary dictionary

  • mess about with —  Deal with in an inefficient or untidy way …   A concise dictionary of English slang

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