mess about

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English[edit]

Verb[edit]

mess about (third-person singular simple present messes about, present participle messing about, simple past and past participle messed about)

  1. (intransitive) To misbehave
    Kids! Stop messing about and do your work!
  2. (intransitive) To be in a casual non-committal relationship
    Anna and I are just messing about; this isn't going to last.
  3. (transitive) To play with; to toy with; to waste the time of (a person).
    Stop messing me about and give me a straight answer!

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]