mix-up

[ miks-uhp ]
See synonyms for mix-up on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a confused state of things; muddle; tangle.

  2. a fight.

Origin of mix-up

1
First recorded in 1835–45; noun use of verb phrase mix up

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use mix-up in a sentence

  • This was the cause of the mix-up of his Division which Stopford, no doubt, would take in hand as soon as he could.

  • I judged the bodyguard met them just above here, and there was a grand mix-up, but we couldn't see well at the distance.

    The Belted Seas | Arthur Colton
  • Instantly there was a mix-up, with bellowing, plunging steers all about him.

    The Pony Rider Boys in Texas | Frank Gee Patchin
  • He was telling the Professor about your mix-up with Lumpy Bates.

    The Pony Rider Boys in Texas | Frank Gee Patchin
  • He met him a night or two later at the Umballa Club, and a strange emotional mix-up resulted.

    The Tigress | Anne Warner

British Dictionary definitions for mix-up

mix-up

noun
  1. a confused condition or situation

  2. informal a fight

verbmix up (tr, adverb)
  1. to make into a mixture: to mix up ingredients

  2. to confuse or confound: Tom mixes John up with Bill

  1. (often passive) to put (someone) into a state of confusion: I'm all mixed up

  2. (foll by in or with; usually passive) to involve (in an activity or group, esp one that is illegal): why did you get mixed up in that drugs racket?

  3. mix it up US and Canadian informal to fight

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with mix-up

mix-up

Confuse, confound, as in His explanation just mixed me up even more, or I always mix up the twins. [c. 1800]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.