muck-up

[ muhk-uhp ]

nounInformal.
  1. a bungled or disordered situation; foul-up.

Origin of muck-up

1
First recorded in 1925–30; noun use of verb phrase muck up

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

How to use muck-up in a sentence

  • The cops, of course, always attend Hempfest, not to muck up the vibe but to make sure no big, important laws are being flouted.

  • Even your dirty paper, Waldemar, wouldn't rake that kind of muck up after ten years.

    Average Jones | Samuel Hopkins Adams
  • If we leave go that muck up yon, it'll be like me dressin' for mass an' no rackin' down me hair, so it would.

    Reels and Spindles | Evelyn Raymond
  • And well might he say that, for she was covered with muck up to her waist.

    The Curlytops at Silver Lake | Howard Roger Garis
  • He was covered with black muck up to his armpits, and some of the muck was on his hands and face.

    The Putnam Hall Rebellion | Arthur M. Winfield
  • It was good enough for you to want me to muck up out of the window, wasn't it?

    The Mirror of Kong Ho | Ernest Bramah

British Dictionary definitions for muck up

muck up

verb(adverb) informal
  1. (tr) British and Australian to ruin or spoil; make a mess of

  2. (intr) Australian to misbehave

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 muck-up

muck-up

Bungle, damage, make a mess of, as in Don't let him write the review; he's sure to muck it up. This idiom alludes to the verb muck in the sense of “spread manure on.” [Early 1900s] For a synonym, see foul up.

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