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In addition to the idioms beginning with FOOL, Also see MAKE A FOOL OF; NOBODY'S FOOL; NO FOOL LIKE AN OLD FOOL; NOT SUFFER FOOLS GLADLY; PLAY THE FOOL; TAKE FOR (A FOOL). Also see under FOOLISH.
American Heritage Idioms
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noun ADJ. awful, big, bloody (taboo), damned, great, silly, stupid You're an even bigger fool than I thought. | absolute, complete, utter | poor (= unfortunate) | old (= used to show sympathy, affection or a lack of respect) The poor old fool was imprisoned on my account. | young | little You silly little fool! | court court fools who used to provide entertainment in the royal court VERB + FOOL feel (like) I felt such a fool when I realized what I'd done. | look (like) They had left me looking like a fool. | act (like), behave like, play Stop behaving like a fool! He thought that being an actor only involved tap dancing and playing the fool (= acting in a childish/funny way). | suffer, tolerate She doesn't suffer fools gladly. | call sb | take sb for He had taken me for a complete fool. | be no/nobody's (= be too clever to be deceived by sb/sth) She's nobody's fool. She had the car checked by a mechanic before buying it. PREP. like a ~ Like a fool, I told her everything. | ~ of a sth That fool of a doctor has prescribed me the wrong medicine! PHRASES make a fool (out) of sb/yourself She was angry at having been made a fool of. | more fool (sb) I thought it was safe to leave my suitcase there. More fool me (= I was stupid to think so)., verb ADV. completely | easily I'm not easily fooled by anyone, least of all you. VERB + FOOL can't/couldn't | try to PREP. into He fooled them into thinking he was a detective. | with You can't fool me with all that nonsense! PHRASES have sb fooled She had me completely fooled for a moment.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
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general::
fool around/about
FUNNY
2. to behave in a humorous way in order to make other people laugh
• He's always getting into trouble for fooling around in class., fool around/about
NOT USEFUL
3. to spend your time doing nothing useful
• We spent the afternoon fooling around on the beach., fool around/about
HAVE A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP
4. mainly US If a married person fools around, they have a sexual relationship with someone who is not their husband or wife
• She'd been fooling around with someone at work., fool around/about
SILLY
1. to behave in a silly way, especially in a way that might have dangerous results
• Don't fool around with matches.
Cambridge-Phrasal Verbs