verb
1. be about (Freq. 1)
-
The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square
-
Who is this man that is hanging around the department?
• Syn:
↑loiter, ↑lounge, ↑footle, ↑lollygag, ↑loaf, ↑lallygag, ↑hang around, ↑mess about, ↑tarry, ↑linger, ↑lurk, ↑mill around
• Derivationally related forms: ↑lingerer (for: ↑linger), ↑lounger (for: ↑lounge), ↑loiterer (for: ↑loiter)
• Hypernyms: ↑be
• Verb Frames:
-
Somebody ——s
-
Somebody ——s PP
2. move about in a confused manner
• Syn: ↑mill, ↑mill around
• Hypernyms: ↑move
• Verb Frames:
-
Something ——s
* * *
ˌmill a ˈround ˌmill a ˈbout british [intransitive] [present tense I/you/we/they mill around he/she/it mills around present participle milling around past tense milled around past participle milled around] informal phrasal verb
to move about in large numbers in a confused way with no particular purpose
a crowd of students milling around the library steps
Thesaurus: to move closer together in a groupsynonym
Main entry: mill
* * *
ˌmill aˈround derived
(BrE also ˌmill aˈbout) (especially of a large group of people) to move around an area without seeming to be going anywhere in particular
•
Fans were milling around outside the hotel.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.