loiter

loiter around

To waste time being idle; to spend time doing little or nothing. Quit loitering around and help me take out the trash! After the stressful week that I had, I'm looking forward to just loitering around the house for the weekend.
See also: around, loiter

loiter away

1. To be idle or slothful; to be totally inactive. I don't want you loitering away on this sofa for the whole weekend, young man! After a long week of work, there's nothing I like better than to loiter away for a while with some video games or movies.
2. To pass a certain amount or period of time by being very lazy or idle. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "loiter" and "away." Too many kids just loiter the summer away in front of their computers or televisions. You really need to be working on your college applications, not loitering away your weekends with your friends.
See also: away, loiter

loiter over (something)

1. To delay in doing or accomplishing something. Time will be extremely tight in this exam, so don't loiter over any questions you can't figure out. Don't loiter over your decision too long, or they might withdraw their generous offer.
2. To spend a lavish or excessive amount of time doing or enjoying something. I love watching her loiter over each cigarette as if it were the last one she'll ever have. With how frantic life is these days, I think it's important to loiter over things we enjoy, such as good food or drinks.
See also: loiter, over

loiter with intent

1. obsolete In law, to stand or wait idly in a location with the intent to commit an offence. Primarily heard in UK. The police officers arrested the two men, accusing them of loitering with intent to rob tourists coming out of the nearby pubs.
2. By extension, to stand idly in one spot while waiting for something to occur. Primarily heard in UK. We just had to stand there at the kerbside loitering with intent while we waited for him to pick us up.
See also: intent, loiter
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

loiter around

to idle somewhere; to hang around. Stop loitering around! Get going! The kids were loitering around for most of the summer.
See also: around, loiter

loiter over something

to dawdle or linger over something. Don't loiter over your meal. I want to start the dishwasher. I wish you wouldn't loiter over your chores.
See also: loiter, over

loiter something away

to idle away a period of time. Those boys will loiter half their lives away. They loitered away their summer vacation.
See also: away, loiter
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

loiter with intent

stand or wait around with the intention of committing an offence. British
This is a legal phrase which derives from an 1891 Act of Parliament; it is also used figuratively and humorously of anyone who is waiting around for some unspecified purpose.
See also: intent, loiter
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • any time
  • anytime
  • about time too
  • any time means no time
  • a week from next Tuesday
  • against time
  • against the clock
  • be joined at the hip
  • (it's) time to run
  • (it's) time to push along
References in periodicals archive
Launched vertically from a 15-round canister, the Lam was a swing-wing, turbojet-powered missile in the 53 kg class, designed to loiter for 30 minutes at 70 km radius.
One-way ticket the loiter-attack drone
Though my aircrew believed we were doing the right thing by keeping a loitered engine shut down while another had a malfunction, we should have asked ourselves, "Is this how we've trained?
To press or not to press?
Further, some boys were known to be sexually assaulted or prostituted by newspaper distribution workers and by strangers who loitered in the news alleys.
"Nocturnal habits and dark wisdom": The American response to children in the streets at night, 1880-1930
Nor could a person who knowingly loitered with a well-known gang member anywhere in the city safely assume that they would not be ordered to disperse no matter how innocent and harmless their loitering might be.
Supremes Squash Chicago Curfew Law, 6-3
"I filmed right around the corner and I did often go in front of her building and just stand around and loiter, like some weirdo, hoping to pick up something left in the air, some kind of magic left behind," Contactmusic quoted her as telling Sunday Times Culture magazine.
Madonna used to 'loiter like a weirdo' around movie subject's home
I now give--rather than get--grades, but still loiter in classrooms in the hope of coming across a bright idea, and other minds willing to entertain one.
Hurry up and graduate. (Controversy)
It is stable, has tremendous endurance and maintains excellent loiter time while consuming roughly 2,800 pounds of fuel per hour," Lt.
VS-29 Dragonfires
Finding which flower visitors pollinate well and which just loiter needs a lot study, says Susan Carthew of the Adelaide University in Roseworthy, Australia.
Wild gerbils pollinate African desert lily
It matters not whether the reason that a gang member and his father, for example, might loiter near Wrigley Field is to rob an unsuspecting fan or just to get a glimpse of Sammy Sosa leaving the ballpark; in either event, if their purpose is not apparent to a nearby police officers, they may - indeed, they "shall" - order them to disperse.(8)
Gang Congregation Ordinance: Supreme Court Invalidation
Ruto, in his response, said: "Mr President, it is time for you to tour the country and listen to the people on the groundbut as a result of the directive you gave me the other day that I should implement every weekend as I loiter around in remote areas, upcountry, counties and even backstreets, I will give a summary of findings".
Ruto downplays Uhuru's 'loitering' remarks, says trips for launching projects
The common objectives include a combat radius of 1,300 nmi with a payload of 4,500 lbs., as well as the ability to loiter for two hours over a target up to 1,000 nmi away.
DARPA UCAV programs come together. (Americas Report)
WEAPONS which can loiter, "sleep" and hide were unveiled by American defence experts yesterday.
Hide-and-sleep weapons to sneak into battlefields
Think of the possibilities: You can loiter inside the ever-cool, everbalding Malkovich while he brushes his teeth, orders towels from a catalog, and, yes, has sex!
Being John Malkovich
Community residents testified that gang members loiter as part of a strategy to establish turf, recruit new members, and intimidate rival gangs and members of the local community.
Combating gangs: the need for innovation