to lie around
43
3.7
- phrasal verb
- /laɪ əˈraʊnd/
- Informal
:
holgazanear
- Basically all we've done is eat lunch and lay around and read books.
- lie around all day
- just lie around
- going to lie around
Basically all we've done is eat lunch and lay around and read books.
- Basically all we've done is eat lunch and lay around and read books.
- You know, if I could just like lays around and watch TV all day, that would be my joy.
Examples
-
It's like lunchtime already and all we've done is eat breakfast, drink coffee and lay around at our resort and it was great.
-
During the summer break, the kids lie around the house instead of going outside to play.
-
All she want to do is lay around and listen to the party.
-
"We could take a few weeks, lie around, and go to Disneyland again."
Fiction book (1990) -
Don't lie around worrying about what could go wrong.
-
And, you know, I'm really good at lying around in my misery and licking my wounds and, you know, really just suffering.
-
I don't mean to sound harsh, but you're kind of just lying around like you're giving up on life or something.
-
I mean it's one thing to take a well-earned vacation or enjoy some downtime but if all you did was lie around on a beach forever- - It would stop being enjoyable.
-
On Sundays, I like to lie around and watch movies all day.
-
After working hard all week, he decided to lie around on the couch and relax.
Synonyms
888
1.5
Spend time without any activity
407
2.0
To stay in a place without doing anything important
350
1.1
To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose
111
4.1
To spend time doing playful or unplanned activities
46
3.6
Act in a silly, playful way instead of working
14
9.1
To spend time relaxing with friends or alone without a plan
7
4.3
To spend time relaxing and doing very little
5
7.0
To sit or lie in a lazy, relaxed way
5
3.8
To relax and do very little
5
6.5
To spend time doing small, not important tasks slowly without a clear plan
4
4.0
To spend time resting or doing nothing in one place
3
5.9
To spend time somewhere doing nothing special
3
7.9
Spend time doing very little or nothing
3
4.4
To stay in a place without a clear reason
3
8.4
To spend time doing not important things in a relaxed way
2
7.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
2
9.9
To sit and do nothing instead of working
2
8.6
To spend time doing very little and moving around without plans
2
9.5
To waste time instead of doing the work you need
1
6.3
To spend time doing nothing or being inactive
1
8.7
To waste time doing small unimportant things
1
9.2
To spend time doing small unimportant things instead of working
1
3.4
To spend time lazily doing little or nothing
1
4.4
To spend time doing very little and relaxing
1
7.7
To spend time doing nothing and not working
1
3.2
To spend time doing nothing
1
8.1
To spend time daydreaming and doing nothing useful
1
6.5
To spend time doing nothing in a lazy way
1
6.5
To move around slowly doing small jobs in no hurry
1
9.9
To waste time doing silly or lazy things instead of useful work
1
9.9
To waste time doing unimportant or silly things instead of doing something important
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
To spend time on things that are not useful
To pass time by doing something not useful while you wait
To spend time doing small unimportant things with no real plan
Spend time or money on unimportant things
To waste time instead of doing something useful
Antonyms
How Idle
- Informal
1
6.3
- Informal
43
3.7
- Informal
350
1.1
26
5.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to spend time without doing anything' is largely built from 'lie' (be in a horizontal/recumbent position) + 'around' (about/in various places), so a learner can plausibly infer an image of remaining in a reclined or idle state. However, the shift from a literal bodily position to a general notion of idleness (and the competing sense of things 'lying around' = scattered) makes the relation only partially predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Lie around comes from the simple image of someone who lies down around a room—on the sofa or the floor—and stays there doing nothing. That's why lie around means 'to spend time without doing anything useful' or 'to be idle'.