putter around
phrasal verb
puttered around; puttering around; putters around
US
: to spend time in a relaxed way doing small jobs and other things that are not very important
I didn't do much last weekend. I just puttered around.
He spent his vacation puttering around the house/garden.
Examples of putter around in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This year, the characters fighting for the Iron Throne of Westeros spent a lot of time puttering around, but also delivered a really good dragon fight and even a surprising death.
—
Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 5 Aug. 2024
That’s in part because slower forms of walking, like puttering around the house, aren’t necessarily intense enough to register as moderate-to-vigorous activity on a fitness monitor, but still count toward the number of steps taken.
—Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 21 May 2024
This heightens any desire to putter around your space, focusing on self-care, rather than going out and facing the cold, hard world.
—Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 12 Mar. 2024
My husband was puttering around shoving a few last items into the cars.
—Sarah Stankorb, Longreads, 9 May 2024
The Mad Men star gets to show off his comedic chops as the amnesiac Gabriel, puttering around the bookshop and smiling blankly.
—Devan Coggan, EW.com, 20 July 2023
Levin believes his clients don’t want a highway cruiser, that most buy a Wolf to putter around town or keep at their vacation homes for short hauls.
—Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 14 Feb. 2024
In 1969, the Hornet was in between assignments in Vietnam and sort of puttering around the Pacific Ocean.
—John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2024
Or just putter around in the morning, like Jeff Bezos.
—Ray A. Smith, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2023
Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 5 Aug. 2024
That’s in part because slower forms of walking, like puttering around the house, aren’t necessarily intense enough to register as moderate-to-vigorous activity on a fitness monitor, but still count toward the number of steps taken.
—Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 21 May 2024
This heightens any desire to putter around your space, focusing on self-care, rather than going out and facing the cold, hard world.
—Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 12 Mar. 2024
My husband was puttering around shoving a few last items into the cars.
—Sarah Stankorb, Longreads, 9 May 2024
The Mad Men star gets to show off his comedic chops as the amnesiac Gabriel, puttering around the bookshop and smiling blankly.
—Devan Coggan, EW.com, 20 July 2023
Levin believes his clients don’t want a highway cruiser, that most buy a Wolf to putter around town or keep at their vacation homes for short hauls.
—Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 14 Feb. 2024
In 1969, the Hornet was in between assignments in Vietnam and sort of puttering around the Pacific Ocean.
—John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2024
Or just putter around in the morning, like Jeff Bezos.
—Ray A. Smith, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'putter around.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near putter around
Cite this Entry
“Putter around.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/putter%20around. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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