mess about／around

1．handle or play with sth．carelessly瞎弄；乱搞

He won't allow anyone to mess about with his new bike．他不许任何人乱摆弄他的新自行车。

Tell the child not to mess around with the fire．叫孩子不要玩火。

2．behave in a foolish， noisy way 吵闹；胡闹

The children were messing about in their mother's room．孩子们在母亲房里乱闹。

Who's messing about there and making such a noise？谁在那儿胡闹，发出这么大的声响？

3．engage in idle or purposeless activity无所事事；鬼混

I wish he'd stop messing about and get down to some serious work．我希望他干点正事不要再鬼混了。

They messed about on the beach most of the summer．夏天的大部分时间他们都在海滨闲混。

4．treat roughly 粗暴地对待

The old man was very angry， because he had never been messed about like that by anybody all his life．老人气极了，因为这辈子从来没有人对他这样粗暴过。