mess around

1. (informal)To fiddle idly.

   The kids sat there messing around with leaves and blades of grass because they were bored.

   These guys don't mess around! They finished the whole job in ten minutes.

   herumspielen, herumgammeln

2. (informal)To joke, kid, or play.

   Hey, don't take it personally. I was only messing around.

   Don't mess around with electricity if you don't understand it.

3. (informal)To have a sexual relationship, especially one which is noncommittal.

   Rumor has it that he's messing around with his secretary.

4. (dated, slang)To dance.

1. You don't mess around with Tom.

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2. Don't mess around.

   deMach keinen Blödsinn!

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3. Tom spent the afternoon messing around in his garage.

   deTom verbrachte den Nachmittag damit, in seiner Garage herumzuwerkeln.

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4. Tom isn't messing around.

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5. I'm not messing around.

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irregular

• mess upпсуватиTo make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss.
• mess aroundгаяти час, марнувати часTo fiddle idly.
• mess aboutховатися, таїтисяTo misbehave
• mess withплутати, заплутатиTo interfere with.
• mess overTo mistreat, abuse, oppress or bother (someone).