mess about

verb — 3 senses

mess about

verb

1

To misbehave

Kids! Stop messing about and do your work!

2

To be in a casual non-committal relationship

Anna and I are just messing about; this isn't going to last.

3

To play with; to toy with; to waste the time of (a person).

Stop messing me about and give me a straight answer!

Synonyms: mess around
Derived terms: messer-abouter

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.