■ noun
1》 a dirty or untidy state or condition.
↘ euphemistic a domestic animal's excrement.
2》 a confused and problematic situation.
↘a person whose life is confused and full of problems.
3》 a place in which members of the armed forces take their meals.
4》 a portion of semi-liquid food.
5》 ( a ~ of ) N. Amer. informal a large amount or quantity of.
■ verb
1》 make untidy or dirty.
↘(of a domestic animal) defecate.
↘make dirty by defecating.
2》 take one's meals with someone.
Phrasal verbs
~ about/around behave in a silly way.
↘occupy oneself in a pleasantly desultory way.
~ someone about/around Brit. informal cause someone problems.
~ up informal mishandle a situation.
~ someone up informal cause someone psychological problems.
~ something up informal handle something ineptly.
~ with informal interfere with.
Origin
ME: from OFr. mes 'portion of food', from late L. missum 'something put on the table', past participle of mittere 'send, put'.