"futz around" meaning in All languages combined

See futz around on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Forms: futzes around [present, singular, third-person], futzing around [participle, present], futzed around [participle, past], futzed around [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} futz around (third-person singular simple present futzes around, present participle futzing around, simple past and past participle futzed around)
  1. (Northern US, slang) To waste time frivolously or busy oneself with minor tasks; to experiment or tinker. Tags: Northern-US, slang
    Sense id: en-futz_around-en-verb-pWeS7i48 Categories (other): Northern US English, English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "around", Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 78 22 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "around": 86 14 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 88 12 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 92 8
  2. (Northern US, slang) To mess or interfere with. Tags: Northern-US, slang
    Sense id: en-futz_around-en-verb-TEfk5A0V Categories (other): Northern US English

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "futzes around",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "futzing around",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "futzed around",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "futzed around",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "futz around (third-person singular simple present futzes around, present participle futzing around, simple past and past participle futzed around)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Northern US English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"around\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "92 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To waste time frivolously or busy oneself with minor tasks; to experiment or tinker."
      ],
      "id": "en-futz_around-en-verb-pWeS7i48",
      "links": [
        [
          "waste time",
          "waste time"
        ],
        [
          "busy oneself",
          "busy oneself"
        ],
        [
          "experiment",
          "experiment"
        ],
        [
          "tinker",
          "tinker"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Northern US, slang) To waste time frivolously or busy oneself with minor tasks; to experiment or tinker."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Northern-US",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Northern US English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              15,
              26
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint:",
          "text": "I am nobody to futz around with when I know myself to be four hundred per cent in the right.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To mess or interfere with."
      ],
      "id": "en-futz_around-en-verb-TEfk5A0V",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Northern US, slang) To mess or interfere with."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Northern-US",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "futz around"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"around\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "futzes around",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "futzing around",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "futzed around",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "futzed around",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "futz around (third-person singular simple present futzes around, present participle futzing around, simple past and past participle futzed around)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "Northern US English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To waste time frivolously or busy oneself with minor tasks; to experiment or tinker."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "waste time",
          "waste time"
        ],
        [
          "busy oneself",
          "busy oneself"
        ],
        [
          "experiment",
          "experiment"
        ],
        [
          "tinker",
          "tinker"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Northern US, slang) To waste time frivolously or busy oneself with minor tasks; to experiment or tinker."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Northern-US",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Northern US English",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              15,
              26
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint:",
          "text": "I am nobody to futz around with when I know myself to be four hundred per cent in the right.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To mess or interfere with."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Northern US, slang) To mess or interfere with."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Northern-US",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "futz around"
}

Download raw JSONL data for futz around meaning in All languages combined (1.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.