doss about
phr. v..phr. v.. to spend time doing nothing useful or being lazy when you should be working.
phr. v.. to spend time in a lazy or unproductive manner; a British informal phrasal verb often used to describe avoiding work or responsibility.
Stop dossing about and finish your homework.
The manager caught the staff dossing about in the break room instead of restocking the shelves.
While his peers were revising for their final exams, he spent the entire semester dossing about, much to the frustration of his tutors.
- Particles
- about
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- doss + about
highly informal and primarily used in British English to criticize laziness.
this is a great example of British slang that can be contrasted with the more neutral 'waste time' or the American 'goof off'.
He was dossing about his work.He was dossing about instead of working.'doss about' is intransitive and does not take a direct object; you cannot 'doss about' a task.