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definitions

mud

[muhd]
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.
verb (used with object), mud·ded, mud·ding.
  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), mud·ded, mud·ding.
  1. to hide in or burrow into mud.

Origin of mud

1300–50; Middle English mudde, mode < Middle Low German mudde. Cf. mother2
Related formsun·mud·ded, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mudding

Contemporary Examples of mudding

Historical Examples of mudding

  • Even if you don't play yourself, your friends might like to entertain themselves with a little music while you were mudding.'

    The Wrong Box

    Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne

  • Cracks between the logs which no amount of mudding would completely fill.

    Plowing On Sunday

    Sterling North

  • The “mudding” of the house is a part of the natural and necessary preparation for winter.

    In Beaver World

    Enos Abijah Mills

  • Carrying sand, cleaning corn patch, mudding and rubbing walls.

British Dictionary definitions for mudding

mud

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. clear as mud informal not at all clear
  4. drag someone's name in the mud to disgrace or defame someone
  5. here's mud in your eye informal a humorous drinking toast
  6. someone's name is mud informal someone is disgraced
  7. throw mud at or sling mud at informal to slander; vilify
verb muds, mudding or mudded
  1. (tr) to soil or cover with mud

Word Origin for mud

C14: probably from Middle Low German mudde; compare Middle High German mot swamp, mud, Swedish modd slush
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
Word Origin and History for mudding

mud

n.

mid-14c., cognate with and probably from Middle Low German mudde, Middle Dutch modde "thick mud," from Proto-Germanic *mud- from PIE *(s)meu-/*mu- [Buck], found in many words denoting "wet" or "dirty" (cf. Greek mydos "damp, moisture," Old Irish muad "cloud," Polish muł "slime," Sanskrit mutra- "urine," Avestan muthra- "excrement, filth"); related to German Schmutz "dirt," which also is used for "mud" in roads, etc., to avoid dreck, which originally meant "excrement." Welsh mwd is from English. Replaced native fen.

Meaning "lowest or worst of anything" is from 1580s. As a word for "coffee," it is hobo slang from 1925; as a word for "opium" from 1922. To throw or hurl mud "make disgraceful accusations" is from 1762. To say (one's) name is mud and mean "(one) is discredited" is first recorded 1823, from mud in obsolete sense of "a stupid twaddling fellow" (1708). Mud in your eye as a toast recorded from 1912, American English. Mud puppy "salamander" is from 1889, American English; mud bath is from 1798; mud pie is from 1788.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with mudding

mud

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.