"muck about" meaning in All languages combined

See muck about on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Forms: mucks about [present, singular, third-person], mucking about [participle, present], mucked about [participle, past], mucked about [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} muck about (third-person singular simple present mucks about, present participle mucking about, simple past and past participle mucked about)
  1. (informal, intransitive) To do random unplanned work or spend time idly Tags: informal, intransitive Translations (spend time idly): lorvailla (Finnish), puuhastella (Finnish), herumgammeln (German), vacakol (Hungarian), piszmog (Hungarian), totojázik (Hungarian), szarakodik (Hungarian), tököl (Hungarian), tökölődik (Hungarian), molyol (Hungarian), babrál (Hungarian), ānewanewa (Maori), бить баклуши (bitʹ bakluši) [idiomatic, imperfective] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-muck_about-en-verb-Z9QJyI1E Disambiguation of 'spend time idly': 97 1 2
  2. (informal, intransitive) To attempt to do something with a piece of equipment without understanding how it works. Tags: informal, intransitive Translations (do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works): maŝinumi sen kompreno (Esperanto), hiplata (Finnish), sörkkiä (Finnish), sorkkia (Finnish), herumspielen (German), babrál (Hungarian), рукосуйствовать (rukosujstvovatʹ) [imperfective, informal] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-muck_about-en-verb-b9PFnimZ Disambiguation of 'do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works': 10 70 19
  3. (informal, intransitive, British, Australia) To be playful; full of fun and high spirits; to not treat the situation seriously. Tags: Australia, British, informal, intransitive Translations (be playful): ludumi (Esperanto), petolumi (Esperanto), vitsaillla (Finnish), pelleillä (Finnish), herumalbern (German), marháskodik (Hungarian), ökörködik (Hungarian), hülyéskedik (Hungarian), idétlenkedik (Hungarian), majomkodik (Hungarian), bohóckodik (Hungarian), озорничать (ozorničatʹ) [imperfective] (Russian), шалить (šalitʹ) [imperfective] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-muck_about-en-verb-nmGJPFE4 Categories (other): Australian English, British English, English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs with particle (about) Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 15 4 80 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs with particle (about): 29 10 61 Disambiguation of 'be playful': 1 0 99
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for muck about meaning in All languages combined (7.3kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "mucks about",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mucking about",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mucked about",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mucked about",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "muck about (third-person singular simple present mucks about, present participle mucking about, simple past and past participle mucked about)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Stop mucking about and get on with your work!"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To do random unplanned work or spend time idly"
      ],
      "id": "en-muck_about-en-verb-Z9QJyI1E",
      "links": [
        [
          "random",
          "random"
        ],
        [
          "unplanned",
          "unplanned"
        ],
        [
          "work",
          "work"
        ],
        [
          "spend",
          "spend"
        ],
        [
          "time",
          "time"
        ],
        [
          "idly",
          "idly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, intransitive) To do random unplanned work or spend time idly"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "lorvailla"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "puuhastella"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "herumgammeln"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "vacakol"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "piszmog"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "totojázik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "szarakodik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "tököl"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "tökölődik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "molyol"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "babrál"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "word": "ānewanewa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "bitʹ bakluši",
          "sense": "spend time idly",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic",
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "бить баклуши"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Don't muck about with the video machine, or you might break it."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To attempt to do something with a piece of equipment without understanding how it works."
      ],
      "id": "en-muck_about-en-verb-b9PFnimZ",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, intransitive) To attempt to do something with a piece of equipment without understanding how it works."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "10 70 19",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
          "word": "maŝinumi sen kompreno"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 70 19",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
          "word": "hiplata"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 70 19",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
          "word": "sörkkiä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 70 19",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
          "word": "sorkkia"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 70 19",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
          "word": "herumspielen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 70 19",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
          "word": "babrál"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 70 19",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "rukosujstvovatʹ",
          "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective",
            "informal"
          ],
          "word": "рукосуйствовать"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 4 80",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 10 61",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (about)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It was only a joke. We were only mucking about."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1957, Ray Lawler, The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Sydney: Fontana Books, published 1974, page 68",
          "text": "The only time I walk out on singin' is when there's muckin' about and youse don't take it serious.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be playful; full of fun and high spirits; to not treat the situation seriously."
      ],
      "id": "en-muck_about-en-verb-nmGJPFE4",
      "links": [
        [
          "playful",
          "playful"
        ],
        [
          "fun",
          "fun"
        ],
        [
          "high",
          "high"
        ],
        [
          "spirits",
          "spirits"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, intransitive, British, Australia) To be playful; full of fun and high spirits; to not treat the situation seriously."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "British",
        "informal",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "ludumi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "petolumi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "vitsaillla"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "pelleillä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "herumalbern"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "marháskodik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "ökörködik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "hülyéskedik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "idétlenkedik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "majomkodik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "word": "bohóckodik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ozorničatʹ",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "озорничать"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 0 99",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "šalitʹ",
          "sense": "be playful",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "шалить"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "fiddle around"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "fool about"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "fuck about"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "fuck around"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "goof around"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "goof off"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "mess about"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "mess around"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "muck around"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "muck up"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "43 10 47",
      "word": "play around"
    }
  ],
  "word": "muck about"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs with particle (about)",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "mucks about",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mucking about",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mucked about",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mucked about",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "muck about (third-person singular simple present mucks about, present participle mucking about, simple past and past participle mucked about)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English intransitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Stop mucking about and get on with your work!"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To do random unplanned work or spend time idly"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "random",
          "random"
        ],
        [
          "unplanned",
          "unplanned"
        ],
        [
          "work",
          "work"
        ],
        [
          "spend",
          "spend"
        ],
        [
          "time",
          "time"
        ],
        [
          "idly",
          "idly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, intransitive) To do random unplanned work or spend time idly"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English intransitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Don't muck about with the video machine, or you might break it."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To attempt to do something with a piece of equipment without understanding how it works."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, intransitive) To attempt to do something with a piece of equipment without understanding how it works."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "British English",
        "English informal terms",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It was only a joke. We were only mucking about."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1957, Ray Lawler, The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Sydney: Fontana Books, published 1974, page 68",
          "text": "The only time I walk out on singin' is when there's muckin' about and youse don't take it serious.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be playful; full of fun and high spirits; to not treat the situation seriously."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "playful",
          "playful"
        ],
        [
          "fun",
          "fun"
        ],
        [
          "high",
          "high"
        ],
        [
          "spirits",
          "spirits"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, intransitive, British, Australia) To be playful; full of fun and high spirits; to not treat the situation seriously."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "British",
        "informal",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "fiddle around"
    },
    {
      "word": "fool about"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "fuck about"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "fuck around"
    },
    {
      "word": "goof around"
    },
    {
      "word": "goof off"
    },
    {
      "word": "mess about"
    },
    {
      "word": "mess around"
    },
    {
      "word": "muck around"
    },
    {
      "word": "muck up"
    },
    {
      "word": "play around"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "lorvailla"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "puuhastella"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "herumgammeln"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "vacakol"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "piszmog"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "totojázik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "szarakodik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "tököl"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "tökölődik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "molyol"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "babrál"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "word": "ānewanewa"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "bitʹ bakluši",
      "sense": "spend time idly",
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "бить баклуши"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
      "word": "maŝinumi sen kompreno"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
      "word": "hiplata"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
      "word": "sörkkiä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
      "word": "sorkkia"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
      "word": "herumspielen"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
      "word": "babrál"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "rukosujstvovatʹ",
      "sense": "do something with a piece of equipment when you do not understand how it works",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective",
        "informal"
      ],
      "word": "рукосуйствовать"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "ludumi"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "petolumi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "vitsaillla"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "pelleillä"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "herumalbern"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "marháskodik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "ökörködik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "hülyéskedik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "idétlenkedik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "majomkodik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "word": "bohóckodik"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ozorničatʹ",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "озорничать"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "šalitʹ",
      "sense": "be playful",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "шалить"
    }
  ],
  "word": "muck about"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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.