1 C1 idiomatic informal
To waste time or opportunities by spending them on trivial, pointless activities.
"She footled away the entire holiday without learning anything new."
separable
footle away
C1 informal separable transitive
To waste time or an opportunity on trivial or pointless activities.
In plain English
Throw away time or opportunities by doing silly, unimportant things.
What does "footle away" mean?
One main meaning — here's how to use it.
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To send (time) away through footling — trivial, purposeless activity.
Actually means
Throw away time or opportunities by doing silly, unimportant things.
Usage tip
Extremely rare in modern English. Almost exclusively found in older British writing. The object is usually 'time' or 'an afternoon'.
Words that pair with "footle away"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
time afternoon hours opportunity
How to conjugate "footle away"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
footle away
I/you/we/they
3rd person
footles away
he/she/it
Past simple
footled away
yesterday
Past participle
footled away
have + pp
-ing form
footling away
continuous
Hear "footle away" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "footle away" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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