muck-up

American

[muhk-uhp] / ˈmʌkˌʌp /

noun

Informal.

a bungled or disordered situation; foul-up.

muck up British

verb

(tr) to ruin or spoil; make a mess of
(intr) 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

muck up Idioms

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.

Etymology

Origin of muck-up

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

muck-up muck up

I think the IOC made a complete muck-up of it.

From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2017

Only Nixon's muck-up could have delayed their eventual birth and triumph.

From Time Magazine Archive

They don’t want me to go back and muck up their experience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

But no one had yet investigated how anthropogenic sounds can muck up animals’ ability to cooperate.

From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2023

The Bruins become not only stout against the run but also muck up opposing passing attacks thanks to a secondary featuring playmaking cornerback Devin Kirkwood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2022

Like dandelions, the Jorō spider appears to fall under the category of "nice" invasive species, that do not seem to muck up the existing ecosystem too much.

From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2022

Too damn much rain would muck up the roads.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023