(literary) to waste or squander time; to let a chance slip away; to dillydally

to waste time; to let the years slip by without any accomplishment

to waste time and accomplish nothing; to let the years slip by without achieving anything

Time slips by without one accomplishing anything; the years have passed in vain.

the years have already gone by; to have wasted one's time and become too old

(literary) to slip and fall; to stumble