putter

putter about

To move from place to place, doing trivial, random, or aimless tasks or activities. It makes me sad thinking of my granddad puttering about in that big old house all by himself. I didn't have a specific plan while I was in London, so I spent most of the time just puttering about.

See also: putter

putter along

1. To move forward at a listless pace or in an aimless manner. You can still see my granddad puttering along into town each morning, the same way he's done every morning for the last 30 years. I hate it when people potter along in the bike lane when I'm trying to get to work each morning. Go to the countryside if you're looking for a leisurely bike ride!

2. To continue or make progress at a steady, consistent pace, especially one that is neither particularly fast nor slow. The economy has been puttering along for a while now, and while it continues to make gains, it is not accelerating at the pace many economists say is needed to recover from the recession. Our business has been puttering along. We haven't exploded into success, but we're making good growth each month.

See also: putter

putter around

To move from place to place, doing trivial, random, or aimless tasks or activities. It makes me sad thinking of my granddad puttering around that big old house all by himself. I didn't have a specific plan while I was in London, so I spent most of the time just puttering around.

See also: around, putter

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

putter around

 and putter about

to do little things of little consequence; to do small tasks as found around the house. I spent all of Saturday just puttering around, not really getting anything done. I stayed home and puttered about during my vacation.

See also: around, putter

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.