Phrasal verb
gad around
Definition
phrasal verb. to travel from place to place for fun or pleasure, especially when you should be doing something more serious.
phrasal verb. to travel or wander restlessly and aimlessly for pleasure or social activity; often carries a pejorative nuance of being irresponsible or frivolous.
Examples
“She spends all her weekends gadding around the city.”
“Instead of finishing his thesis, he spent the entire summer gadding around Europe with his friends.”
“While the rest of the staff worked overtime to meet the deadline, the manager was seen gadding around various networking events and cocktail parties.”
Examples
simple
“She spends all her weekends gadding around the city.”
contextual
“Instead of finishing his thesis, he spent the entire summer gadding around Europe with his friends.”
complex
“While the rest of the staff worked overtime to meet the deadline, the manager was seen gadding around various networking events and cocktail parties.”
Usage
often used with 'about' instead of 'around' in British English; usually implies the subject is wasting time.
Teaching tip
the word 'gad' is an old verb meaning to wander; it is rarely used today outside of this phrasal verb and the related noun 'gadabout'.
Pitfall
He gads around to the shops.
He gads around the shops.
the phrase is often used with a direct object representing the area or location, so 'to' is unnecessary.
Phrasal verb
Particles
around
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
gad + around (+ object)
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/gad-around