Mess about | EWA Phasal Verbs Dictionary
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phrasal verbs

Mess about

/mes əˈbaʊt/

B1

Intermediate

1. To engage in playful or aimless activity, typically without a serious purpose, often leading to avoiding responsibilities or wasting time.

  • The kids were messing about in the garden all afternoon instead of doing their homework.
  • I spent the weekend messing about with my new camera, trying different settings.

2. To handle something in a careless or negligent way, sometimes causing annoyance or damage.

  • Stop messing about with my phone; you might break it.
  • He's been messing about with the project files and now everything is disorganized.

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