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

Alexander wiggled his feet around in the muck.

Read more on Literature

While I, Lady Constance Ashton, will be forced to trudge through muck—and mire—and—poor people!”

Read more on Literature

They can be minor, covering roads and driveways with muck, or large and destructive, capable of moving cars at speeds of up to 35 mph and pummeling homes with boulders and a wall of mud.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"I mean, I hope I don't muck it up for anybody," he says.

Read more on BBC

Everyone in purgatory is saved, salvation has come, but that doesn’t mean we need to track into heaven the muck we got on ourselves in life.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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