mud

American  

[muhd] / mʌd /

noun

1. wet, soft earth or earthy matter, as on the ground after rain, at the bottom of a pond, or along the banks of a river; mire.

2. Informal. scandalous or malicious assertions or information.

   The opposition threw a lot of mud at our candidate.

3. Slang. brewed coffee, especially when strong or bitter.

4. a mixture of chemicals and other substances pumped into a drilling rig chiefly as a lubricant for the bit and shaft.

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verb (used with object)

mudded, mudding

1. to cover, smear, or spatter with mud.

   to mud the walls of a hut.

2. to stir up the mud or sediment in.

   waders mudding the clear water.

verb (used without object)

mudded, mudding

1. to hide in or burrow into mud.

mud British  

/ mʌd /

noun

1. a fine-grained soft wet deposit that occurs on the ground after rain, at the bottom of ponds, lakes, etc

2. informal slander or defamation

3. informal not at all clear

4. to disgrace or defame someone

5. informal a humorous drinking toast

6. informal someone is disgraced

7. informal to slander; vilify

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verb

1. (tr) to soil or cover with mud

mud Idioms  

1. see clear as mud; name is mud; sling mud at.

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Other Word Forms

• unmudded
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of mud

1300–50; Middle English mudde, mode < Middle Low German mudde. Cf. mother ²

Explanation

Mud is very wet dirt. On rainy days, you might enjoy putting on your tall rubber boots and squishing around in the mud. When you mix soil with water, you get mud — a soft, almost sticky material. Mud results from a damp environment or a recent rain. There's also the mud that masons or bricklayers use to stick stones together — it resembles mud, though it's actually mortar or plaster, and to use it when building is to mud. The word mud also showed up in 1920s as slang" meaning "bad coffee," and if your "name is mud," you've got a bad reputation.

Example Sentences

It’s to drag OpenAI and its other founders through the mud until they come out the other side as dirty as he is.

From Slate • Apr. 30, 2026

Freeport-McMoRan stock fell nearly 8% as investors prioritized long-term operational issues from a fatal mud rush over Q1 earnings beat.

From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026

Oil seep hydrocarbons and oxygen-free mud protected not only bones but also delicate tissues such as skin and cartilage.

From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2026

From these narrow scraps grew “The Star of Redemption,” an audacious 1921 book conceived under fire that asks what remains of love—both human and divine—after war has marched a continent into the mud.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

All she knew about the life of the mud dauber, she’d just now learned.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• clay
• muck
• silt
• sludge
• slush