futz around

futz around

1. slang To engage in aimless recreation or frivolous time-wasting; to fool around. I can't believe we spent the whole day just futzing around.
2. slang To play or tinker with something. Hey, don't futz around with the thermostat—it needs to stay at 68 degrees. Grandpa's still futzing around with that old radio, but I doubt he'll get it to work again.
See also: around, futz
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

futz around

Sl. to waste time. Stop futzing around and get the job done. I wish you would stop futzing around!
See also: around, futz
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

futz around

Also, futz with. Waste time or effort on frivolities, play around. For example, He spent all morning futzing around with the report, or No more futzing with the car-we have to go now. This term may be a shortening and corruption of the Yiddish arumfartzen, for "fart around." [Slang; 1920s]
See also: around, futz
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

futz around

v. Slang
1. To act foolishly, playfully, or without a clear sense of purpose; goof off: The kids were futzing around so much that they didn't finish their chores.
2. To manipulate something without a clear sense of purpose: Stop futzing around with the door handle, or you'll break it.
See also: around, futz
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

futz around

verb
See putz around
See also: around, futz
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • good around
  • around (one's) ears
  • go around and around
  • get (someone) around the table
  • get around the table
  • gallivant around
  • find way around
References in periodicals archive
Setting aside that the tricky job Fallon is tackling is also unspeakably meaningless--really, who wouldn't rather futz around online nowadays than zonk out to late-night TV?--I wish him well.
Johnny who? Here's Jimmy Fallon, the first late-night host too young to have worshipped Carson
I'll futz around in my office upstairs on my computer, answer e-mails from friends.
A High-Profile Debut: Aaron Brown had barely started at CNN when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. He's been a constant on-air presence ever since as the news network's lead anchor
She didn't futz around, getting right to the point.
D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Don't futz around trying to fit protective eyewear over your regular reading glasses.
Magnetic bit rack
Imagine the damage I could do to this magazine if I had another 1,000 years to futz around with it!
Cloning: think of the possibilities
Arguably, your toughest job will be to convince the world that Novell can do more than just futz around with NetWare.
Turnaround tips for Novell
You learn the basics of how to ride, make mistakes, learn some more, futz around. Buy a bike and learn to fix it, because fixing it and the accompanying, often temporary, flush of self-sufficiency are part of the allure of motorcycling in this otherwise unfixable world.
Precious dangers: the lessons of the motorcycle
* either we train people to compete in a world of diminishing resources, or we futz around with cooperative learning;
The school as a humane business; organizing problems out; designing productivity in