muck

[muhk]

noun

1. moist farmyard dung, decaying vegetable matter, etc.; manure.

2. a highly organic, dark or black soil, less than 50 percent combustible, often used as a manure.

3. mire; mud.

4. filth, dirt, or slime.

5. defamatory or sullying remarks.

6. a state of chaos or confusion.

   to make a muck of things.

7. Chiefly British Informal.,  something of no value; trash.

8. (especially in mining) earth, rock, or other useless matter to be removed in order to get out the mineral or other substances sought.

verb (used with object)

1. to manure.

2. to make dirty; soil.

3. to remove muck from (sometimes followed byout ).

4. Informal.

   1. to ruin; bungle (often followed byup ).

   2. to put into a state of complete confusion (often followed byup ).

verb phrase

1. muck about / around,  to idle; waste time; loiter.

muck

/ mʌk /

noun

1. farmyard dung or decaying vegetable matter

2. Also called: muck soil. an organic soil rich in humus and used as a fertilizer

3. dirt or filth

4. earth, rock material, etc, removed during mining excavations

5. slang,  rubbish

6. See Lord Muck Lady Muck

7. slang,  to ruin or spoil

verb

1. to spread manure upon (fields, gardens, etc)

2. to soil or pollute

3. (often foll by out) to clear muck from

Word History and Origins

Origin of muck¹

1200–50; Middle English muc, muk < Old Norse myki cow dung

Word History and Origins

Origin of muck¹

C13: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse myki dung, Norwegian myk

Example Sentences

"There are consequences, we are not mucking around now," he said.

Read more on BBC

Trying to rob his employer one night with a mop dipped in toxic muck, Winston is shot and thrown into said slop.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Sometimes, it just takes living long enough and wading through all of humankind’s muck to remember that there’s a place for hope among all of the wreckage, even if it’s hard to find.

Read more on Salon

He recalled how he watched Mr Van Ysseldyk on his hands and knees in the muck.

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"I don't feel like I've actually mucked it up by mishitting any shots, which I think everybody can probably agree, you know what I mean? I played so solid."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• dirt 
• goo 
• gunk 
• manure 
• mud 
• slime 
• sludge 
• trash