muck about/around

phrasal verb

mucked about/around; mucking about/around; mucks about/around

British, informal

1

: to spend time doing things that are not useful or serious : to waste time

We just mucked about all afternoon.

2

: to be unfair or dishonest with (someone) : to lie to or cheat (someone)

I want them to stop mucking me around.

He's tired of being mucked about.

Examples of muck about/around in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By dealing with them, the emotions won't muck around in the unconscious, stealthily interfering with our mental health and peace of mind. —Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 16 Oct. 2023

The Supreme Court does not muck around with Tax Court decisions very much. —Peter J Reilly, Forbes, 26 May 2022

In an ideal world, every American would be getting quality journalism—news deserts would turn into lush sod for investigative reporters to muck around in. —Clare Malone, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2022

Considering all these new ways to muck about with a potential love interest’s head, is ghosting starting to feel long in the tooth? —Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2021

As the stakes rise, so do the incentives for people to muck about, influence, or even replace A.I. algorithms with ones that better serve their interests. —Ben Weiss, Fortune Crypto, 4 May 2023

Once a trail is built, maintainers deal with flooding, erosion and problems created by humans, who have a pernicious tendency to wander off a trail and muck about in fragile forest understory. —Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2021

An hour and a half later, another volunteer found his other boot, stuck in the muck about 60 feet downstream. —Katherine Laidlaw, Wired, 9 Sep. 2021

Some of the sludge settled in the Tarpon River, leaving a layer of muck about an inch thick, Fort Lauderdale officials say. —Susannah Bryan, sun-sentinel.com, 21 Oct. 2020