I. mess 1 S2 /mes/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: mes 'food' , from Late Latin missus 'course at a meal' , from Latin mittere 'to send' ]
1 . DIRTY/UNTIDY [singular, uncountable] if there is a mess somewhere or a place is a mess, things there are dirty or not neatly arranged:
What a mess!
Sorry – the place is a bit of a mess.
When I got home, the house was a complete mess.
in a mess British English :
The burglars left the house in an awful mess.
You can make cookies if you promise not to make a mess in the kitchen.
clear/clean up the mess
Whoever is responsible for this mess can clear it up immediately!
She hates mess.
2 . PROBLEMS/DIFFICULTIES [singular, uncountable] a situation in which there are a lot of problems and difficulties, especially as a result of mistakes or carelessness:
My life’s such a mess.
in a mess
The economy is in a terrible mess.
You got us into this mess, Terry. You can get us out of it.
All she could do was pray that, somehow, she might be able to sort out the mess she had got herself into.
3 . make a mess of (doing) something to do something badly:
I feel I’ve made a real mess of my marriage.
Many people make a mess of handling money.
4 . PERSON be a mess informal if someone is a mess, they look dirty and untidy, or are in a bad emotional state
5 . a mess of something American English informal a lot of something:
a mess of fresh fish
6 . ARMY/NAVY [countable] a room in which members of the army, navy etc eat and drink together:
We had lunch in the officers’ mess.
7 . WASTE SUBSTANCE [uncountable and countable] British English informal solid waste from an animal:
The dog’s made a mess on the carpet.
II. mess 2 S2 BrE AmE verb
1 . [transitive] to make something look untidy or dirty:
He scratched his head and messed his hair even more.
2 . [intransitive and transitive] British English if an animal or person messes something, they use the wrong place as a toilet:
He was so drunk that he messed the bed.
3 . no messing spoken informal used to say that something was done very easily:
Williams won very comfortably, no messing.
4 . [intransitive] to have meals in a room where members of the army, navy etc eat together
mess around ( also mess about British English ) phrasal verb informal
1 . to spend time lazily, doing things slowly and in a way that is not planned:
He spent his vacation messing around on the farm.
2 . to behave in a silly way when you should be paying attention or doing something sensible SYN fool around :
Stop messing around and get ready for school.
3 . mess somebody around to cause a lot of problems for someone, especially by changing your mind often and not being completely honest:
Don’t mess me around – I want the money you promised me.
mess around with somebody/something ( also mess about with somebody/something British English ) phrasal verb informal
1 . to have a sexual relationship with someone that you should not have a sexual relationship with:
She’d been messing around with another man.
2 . to spend time playing with something, repairing it etc:
Dave likes messing around with old cars.
3 . to use something and make annoying changes to it:
Who’s been messing around with my camera?
mess up phrasal verb informal
1 . mess something ↔ up to spoil or ruin something, especially something important or something that has been carefully planned:
It took me ages to get this right – I don’t want some idiot to mess it up.
She felt she’d messed up her whole life.
2 . mess something ↔ up to make something dirty or untidy:
Who messed up the kitchen?
3 . to make a mistake and do something badly:
I think I messed up on the last question.
mess something ↔ up
It doesn’t matter if you mess it up, you can always try again.
4 . mess somebody ↔ up to make someone have emotional or mental problems:
I messed up my kids.
5 . mess somebody ↔ up American English informal to hurt someone especially by hitting them
mess with somebody/something phrasal verb informal
1 . to get involved with someone or something that may cause problems or be dangerous:
Don’t mess with drugs.
2 . to deceive someone or cause trouble for them:
You mess with me, and I’ll rip your head off.
3 . to try changing something, especially in a way that damages or spoils it