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Phrase(s): run around like a chicken with its head cut off [and] run (around) in circles
Fig. to run around frantically and aimlessly; to be in a state of chaos. (Alludes to a chicken that continues to run around aimlessly after its head has been chopped off.) • I spent all afternoon running around like a chicken with its head cut off. • If you run around in circles, you’ll never get anything done.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs