mess about
Britishverb
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(intr) to occupy oneself trivially; potter
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to interfere or meddle (with)
-
to engage in adultery
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“He’s a very rich character to play. He’s a complex, contradictory, troubled human who’s got these extraordinary abilities, so there’s potent stuff to mess about with,” Cumberbatch said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2025
"Don't mess about in the rivers because it's really not worth it," she said.
From BBC • May 28, 2023
Intended mostly as B-movies, they don’t mess about.
From The Guardian • Sep. 25, 2020
Being a hot mess about homework in late middle and early high school is a time-honored tradition, and your teenagers are engaged in two of its most classic variations.
From Slate • Jul. 2, 2020
Mr. Tate talking all that mess about how my life is going to get messed up and about what kind of family I’m going to have.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
