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Glite Dictionary
to lie about

to lie about

4 4.0
To spend time resting or doing nothing in one place
  • phrasal verb
  • /laɪ əˈbaʊt/
  • UK
translation icon : no hacer nada
  • On sunny afternoons, I love to lie about in the garden and read a book.
  • lie about your age
  • lie about sex
  • continue to lie about

Examples

  • I was drinking like a fish, smoking cigarettes again, and now lying about the hidden manuscript.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Finally, she said, "But she was lying about that too, wasn't she?"

    Fiction book (1994)

  • "But they stayed with him for two days anyway, lying about and staring at the clouds."

    Fiction book (2000)

  • "Natural enough to lie about that," Coldwater said.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • And then on the eve of the election, this Hunter Biden story drops, which shows that Joe Biden completely lied about his lack of knowledge of what his son was doing.

    2000 Mules (2022)

  • Instead of finishing his homework, he prefers to lie about and play video games.

  • During our vacation, we spent hours just lying about on the beach, doing nothing at all.

Synonyms

to do nothing
vsto lie about
888 1.5

Spend time without any activity

is the same idea often used interchangeably
to sit around
vsto lie about
  • Informal
350 1.1

To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose

covers general idleness not limited to one posture
to lie around
vsto lie about
  • Informal
43 3.7

To spend time doing nothing useful

focuses on waiting or idling without any specific purpose

Antonyms

to act
∞ 1.0

Take action to deal with a problem or situation

How Idle

to vegetate
  • Informal
1 6.3
to lie about
  • UK
4 4.0
to sit around
  • Informal
350 1.1
to loiter
26 5.4

Surface Forms

lie about infinitive
lying about present participle
lies about third person singular
lay about past
lain about past participle

Morphology

lie + about

The sense 'to spend time doing nothing' is directly derivable from 'lie' (to be in a horizontal or resting position) combined with 'about' (around/in the vicinity) — i.e. lying around doing nothing. This follows a common English verb + particle composition (compare 'lie around/lie about') and is a transparent, predictable extension that a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand.

Etymology

Lie about comes from the simple picture of a person who lies down or rests about the house or garden, staying in different spots and doing very little. That's why it now means 'to spend time doing nothing'.