muck about

To play or joke instead of behaving seriously.

• We were just mucking about.
• The children mucked about and laughed on the way home.
• Please don’t muck about during the lesson.

Similar words: fool around, mess around, joke around

Common phrases: muck about together, muck about in class

To spend time doing little or doing things without a clear purpose.

• Stop mucking about and finish your homework.
• I mucked about in the garage all afternoon.
• We have no time to muck about today.

Similar words: mess around, waste time, muck around

Opposites: get on with it

Common phrases: muck about all day, muck about outside

To try changing or using equipment when you do not really know how it works.

• Don’t muck about with my computer.
• He mucked about with the settings and broke the printer.
• Have you been mucking about with the engine?

How to use it: muck about with something (Don’t muck about with the heating controls.)

Similar words: mess around with, tamper with, fiddle with

Common phrases: muck about with something, muck about with controls

To treat someone unfairly by wasting their time or making promises you do not keep.

• Stop mucking me about.
• They mucked her about for weeks before rejecting her application.
• I won’t let another employer muck me about.

How to use it: muck someone about (The company mucked us about over the delivery date.)

Similar words: mess someone around, give someone the runaround

Common phrases: muck someone about, muck customers about