muck about

Meanings

verbmuck about (third-person singular simple present mucks about, present participle mucking about, simple past and past participle mucked about)

present singular third person mucks about · participle present mucking about · participle past mucked about · past mucked about

informalintransitiveTo do random unplanned work or spend time idly
Stop mucking about and get on with your work!
informalintransitiveTo attempt to do something with a piece of equipment without understanding how it works.
Don't muck about with the video machine, or you might break it.
AustraliaUKinformalintransitiveTo be playful; full of fun and high spirits; to treat a situation unseriously.
It was only a joke. We were only mucking about.
1 more example
The only time I walk out on singin' is when there's muckin' about and youse don't take it serious.
1957, Ray Lawler, The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Sydney: Fontana Books, published 1974, page 68
transitiveTo play with; to toy with; to waste the time of (a person).
Then he started stalling. In the end he mucked me about so much that I lost my patience and decided to nick the books from him.
1955, Billy Hill, Boss of Britain's Underworld, page 100

verbdo random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly

Broader

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Esperanto maŝinumi sen kompreno, ludumi

maŝinumi sen komprenodo something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works
ludumibe playful
petolumibe playful

Finnish lorvailla, puuhastella

lorvaillaspend time idly
puuhastellaspend time idly
hiplatado something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works
sörkkiädo something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works
sorkkiado something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works
vitsaillabe playful
pelleilläbe playful

German herumgammeln, herumspielen

herumgammelnspend time idly
herumspielendo something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works
herumalbernbe playful

Hungarian vacakol, piszmog

vacakolspend time idly
piszmogspend time idly
totojázikspend time idly
szarakodikspend time idly
tökölspend time idly
tökölődikspend time idly
molyolspend time idly
babrálspend time idly
babráldo something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works
marháskodikbe playful
ökörködikbe playful
hülyéskedikbe playful

Māori ānewanewa

Russian бить баклуши, рукосуйствовать

бить баклуши (bitʹ bakluši)spend time idly
рукосуйствовать (rukosujstvovatʹ)do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works
озорничать (ozorničatʹ)be playful
шалить (šalitʹ)be playful

Spanish tontear, payasear

Cite this entry

APA

muck about. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muck%20about

MLA

“muck about.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muck%20about. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “muck about,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muck%20about.