- mess around
- 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 informal1) [intransitive] to behave in a silly way, especially when you should be working or paying attention to somethingStop messing about – I'm serious about this!
2) [intransitive] to spend time doing things in a relaxed wayWe 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 promised4) [intransitive] to waste time doing things that are not importantnot mess about:There's no point messing about. Let's start now.
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 unsuccessfulmess 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 notmess about with:Diane's been messing around with a married man.
English dictionary. 2014.