muck about
English
Verb
muck about (third-person singular simple present mucks about, present participle mucking about, simple past and past participle mucked about)
- (informal, intransitive) To do random unplanned work or spend time idly
- Stop mucking about and get on with your work!
- (informal, intransitive) To attempt to do something with a piece of equipment without understanding how it works.
- Don't muck about with the video machine, or you might break it.
- (informal, intransitive, British, Australia) To be playful; full of fun and high spirits; to not treat the situation seriously.
- It was only a joke. We were only mucking about.
- 1957, Ray Lawler, The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Sydney: Fontana Books, published 1974, page 68:
- The only time I walk out on singin' is when there's muckin' about and youse don't take it serious.
Synonyms
Translations
spend time idly
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do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works
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be playful
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