mess around (with something)
- mess around (with something)
mess around (with something) & mess about (withsomething) & monkey around (with something)
1. to play with or fiddle with something idly and with no good purpose. •
Don't mess around with the ashtray.
•
You'll break it if you don't stop messing about with it.
2. to experiment with something; to use and learn about something. •
We had been messing about with some new video techniques when we made our discovery.
•
The people in this lab are messing around with all kinds of polymers.
Dictionary of American idioms.
2013.
Look at other dictionaries:
mess around with something — mess around with (something) to amuse yourself by doing or saying something that is likely to cause trouble. I don t know if I m dealing with a 14 year old messing around with a computer or if I m dealing with organized crime … New idioms dictionary
mess around (with something) mess about (with something); — AND monkey around (with something) in. to play with or fiddle with something. □ Don’t mess around with the ashtray. □ You’ l l break it if you don’t stop monkeying around with it … Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions
mess around with — (something) to amuse yourself by doing or saying something that is likely to cause trouble. I don t know if I m dealing with a 14 year old messing around with a computer or if I m dealing with organized crime … New idioms dictionary
mess about with something — Go to ess around (with something) … Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions
mess around with something — … Useful english dictionary
monkey around with something — Go to Mess around (with something) … Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions
mess around with — phrasal verb mess with or mess around with [transitive] Word forms mess with : present tense I/you/we/they mess with he/she/it messes with present participle messing with past tense messed with past participle messed with informal 1) mess with… … English dictionary
muck around with something — ˌmuck aˈbout/aˈround with sth derived (BrE, informal, disapproving) to do sth, especially to a machine, so that it does not work correctly Syn: ↑mess about … Useful english dictionary
mess around — {v. phr.} 1. To engage in idle or purposeless activity. * /Come on, you guys, start doing some work, don t just mess around all day!/ 2. {vulgar} To be promiscuous; to indulge in sex with little discrimination as to who the partner is. * /Allen… … Dictionary of American idioms
mess around — {v. phr.} 1. To engage in idle or purposeless activity. * /Come on, you guys, start doing some work, don t just mess around all day!/ 2. {vulgar} To be promiscuous; to indulge in sex with little discrimination as to who the partner is. * /Allen… … Dictionary of American idioms
mess around — phrasal verb mess about or mess around Word forms mess about : present tense I/you/we/they mess about he/she/it messes about present participle messing about past tense messed about past participle messed about British informal 1) [intransitive]… … English dictionary
