muck

[ muhk ]

/ mʌk /

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See synonyms for: muck / mucked / mucking on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

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

mire; mud.

filth, dirt, or slime.

defamatory or sullying remarks.

a state of chaos or confusion: to make a muck of things.

Chiefly British Informal. something of no value; trash.

(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)

to manure.

to make dirty; soil.

to remove muck from (sometimes followed by out).

Informal.

to ruin; bungle (often followed by up).
to put into a state of complete confusion (often followed by up).

Verb Phrases

muck about / around Informal. to idle; waste time; loiter.

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON PARENTHESES AND BRACKETS APLENTY!

Set some time apart to test your bracket symbol knowledge, and see if you can keep your parentheses, squares, curlies, and angles all straight!

Question 1 of 7

Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?

First appeared around 1750, and is related to the French word “braguette” for the name of codpiece armor.

First appeared in 1610, based on the French word “baguette” for the long loaf of bread.

First appeared in 1555, and is related to the French word “raquette” for a netted bat.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of muck

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

Words nearby muck

mucinoid, mucinosis, mucinous carcinoma, muciparous, muciparous gland, muck, muck about, muck-a-muck, muck bar, mucker, muck in

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for muck

We can’t simply step over it and put it in the past because the muck is too wide and deep.
Ghosts of our unsettled past|Robin Givhan|January 26, 2021|Washington Post
Skim off the muck that floats to the top every now and then.
Bitcoin bombs lower, touching the dreaded $30,000 range|Bernhard Warner|January 22, 2021|Fortune
The ground simmers at our feet as little mud volcanoes disgorge piles of hot, sulfurous muck.
Geothermal energy, the forgotten renewable, has finally arrived|Michael J. Coren|December 20, 2020|Quartz
Torrential, incessant rain turned battlefields into muck and flooded trenches and tunnels, while bitterly cold nights brought frostbite.
A climate anomaly may have worsened the 1918 pandemic and WWI|Kate Baggaley|September 25, 2020|Popular Science

Instead of taking my imagined path up the sun-dappled hillside, we trekked downhill toward the muck and tussocks of a low-lying swampy area not far from the access road.
How to hunt for star-nosed moles (and their holes)|Kenneth Catania|September 15, 2020|Popular Science
He said he watched waste haulers back up to the pit and unleash torrents of watery muck.
Two Texas Regulators Tried to Enforce the Rules. They Were Fired.|David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After a long day of him wading and me watching him in the muck, cocktails were required.
Up to a Point: In Defense of Lobbyists|P. J. O’Rourke|October 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
How nice of Bob Dylan to demonstrate that over a lifetime of work, even perfection sometime runs amok into a muck.
Bob Dylan: Why We Can Never Know Him|Elizabeth Wurtzel|November 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Italy, in the muck of an economic crisis, simply cannot afford to help everyone who lands on the shores.
Italy’s Shipwrecked Syrians Fare Better Than Most Migrants|Barbie Latza Nadeau|October 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The cops, of course, always attend Hempfest, not to muck up the vibe but to make sure no big, important laws are being flouted.
Seattle Police Hand Out Doritos at Hempfest|Winston Ross|August 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Roly was inclined to wait for developments, but as the call to "muck-muck" was now heard on the shore, he also withdrew.
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail|Arthur R. Thompson
Even your dirty paper, Waldemar, wouldn't rake that kind of muck up after ten years.
Average Jones|Samuel Hopkins Adams
They were soon broken in; for the yard being full of muck, Pablo took them into it and mounted them.
The Children of the New Forest|Captain Marryat
And must she run, despite the tears And prayers of eighteen hundred years,A-muck in Slavery's crusade?
The Boys of '61|Charles Carleton Coffin.
Even when put into a bag, and dragged to the muck-hill, it moved and stirred, and the next morning was nowhere to be found.
Witch, Warlock, and Magician|William Henry Davenport Adams

British Dictionary definitions for muck

muck

/ (mʌk) /

noun

farmyard dung or decaying vegetable matter

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

dirt or filth

earth, rock material, etc, removed during mining excavations

slang, mainly British rubbish

See Lord Muck, Lady Muck

make a muck of slang, mainly British to ruin or spoil

verb (tr)

to spread manure upon (fields, gardens, etc)

to soil or pollute

(often foll by out) to clear muck from

Word Origin for muck

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

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

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