Pronunciation: /ˈfuː.lɪŋ/
noun the act of deceiving or tricking someone
A1 I caught my little brother fooling around with my toys.
A2 She was caught fooling with the thermostat, trying to change the temperature.
B1 His constant fooling in class led to his teacher giving him a warning.
B2 The politician's fooling with the public's trust eventually led to his downfall.
C1 The company's fooling of investors was uncovered during the investigation.
C2 The mastermind behind the scheme was known for his cunning fooling of authorities.
verb to deceive or trick someone
A1 She was fooling around with her friends at the park.
A2 The children were fooling their teacher by pretending to be sick.
B1 He was fooling himself if he thought he could get away with cheating on the test.
B2 The magician was fooling the audience with his impressive sleight of hand tricks.
C1 The con artist was skilled at fooling people into giving him their money.
C2 The spy was fooling the enemy by pretending to be a double agent.
formal She was caught fooling around instead of working on the project.
informal Stop fooling around and start focusing on your studies.
slang I can't believe he's still fooling with that old car.
figurative Don't be fooled by his charm, he's always fooling people for his own benefit.
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to fool
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