бить баклуши

разг., неодобр.

be busy doing nothing; fritter (idle, loiter) away one's time; waste one's time; loaf around; dawdle; cf. twiddle (twirl) one's thumbs (fingers); sit twiddling one's thumbs (fingers); fold one's arms (hands); sit with idle hands; eat lotus; sit like a bump on a log Amer.; sit picking one's nose

Папа сказал, что будет нам в деревне баклуши бить, что мы перестали быть маленькими и что пора нам серьёзно учиться. (Л. Толстой, Детство) — Papa said we'd had enough of idling away our time in the country, that we were no longer infants and that it was high time we had begun to study in earnest.

Ведь он не баклуши бил, он трое суток оперировал, почти трое суток. Он оперировал, и его кололи кофеином, чтобы он не заснул стоя... (Ю. Герман, Дорогой мой человек) — After all, he hadn't been loafing around the last three days. He had been operating without a stop, with the nurses giving him caffeine injections all the time so he wouldn't fall asleep oh his feet...