stand around

verb

To stand without doing anything; to do nothing productive; to waste time.

“We've just been standing around until you got here.”

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Meanings

verbstand around (third-person singular simple present stands around, present participle standing around, simple past and past participle stood around)

present singular third person stands around · participle present standing around · participle past stood around · past stood around

  1. intransitiveTo stand without doing anything; to do nothing productive; to waste time.

    We've just been standing around until you got here.

    1 more example

    Why are some people working and some are standing around?

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: stand around on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.