mess around
verb1
Informal To fiddle idly.
- The kids sat there messing around with leaves and blades of grass because they were bored.
- These guys don't mess around! They finished the whole job in ten minutes.
2
Informal To joke, kid, or play.
- Hey, don't take it personally. I was only messing around.
- Don't mess around with electricity if you don't understand it.
3
Informal To have a sexual relationship, especially one which is non-commital.
- Rumor has it that he's messing around with his secretary.
- She grew up as the pretty young thing / Let them look up her skirt on the backyard swing, oh no / And Daddy told you to stay indoors / And I can understand how a girl gets bored / Too old to play and too young to mess around2016, Lucy Dacus, “Troublemaker Doppelgänger”, in No Burden, Matador Records:
- Synonyms
- mess about, faff about, dick around, waste time
- Related terms
- mess with