muck

American  

[muhk] / mʌk /

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 British  

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of muck

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

Example Sentences

"I am so happy to be away from all the muck," she said.

From BBC

Now I just need to keep Lizzie from mucking it up for me.

From Literature

The streets of America did not need to be paved with gold; it would suffice to be less mired in muck.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Like slime, sludge, and muck, slop has the wet sound of something you don’t want to touch,” the editors continued.

From Salon

How many homes could be heated by cow muck?

From BBC

Related Words

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