footle about
C1 informal inseparable intransitive
In simple words
Do small, silly, pointless things and waste time.
Literal meaning: 'Footle' may derive from a dialectal word for idle chatter; the phrase suggests wandering about without purpose.
Meanings
1 C1
idiomatic
informal
To spend time doing unimportant or trivial things without any useful result.
"Stop footling about and tell me what you actually want to do."
Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes
Chiefly British English and rather old-fashioned. Rarely heard in everyday modern speech but may appear in literature or among older speakers. Conveys mild exasperation.
Commonly used with
time afternoon day office kitchen
Forms
Base
footle about
I/you/we/they
3rd person
footles about
he/she/it
Past simple
footled about
yesterday
Past participle
footled about
have + pp
-ing form
footling about
continuous
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