I. ˈmes noun
( -es )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English mes, from Old French, from Late Latin missus course at a meal, from missus, past participle of mittere to put, place, from Latin, to send
1. : a quantity of food:
a. archaic : food set on a table at one time : course
b. : a prepared dish (as of soft or pulpy food)
a mess of milk, made by crumbling bread into it — G.E.Fussell
: a mixture of ingredients cooked or eaten together
a curious savory mess of sweetbreads and chicken liver — Margery Allingham
took a lot of cheese, a lot of hardtack, and a lot of bully beef, ground them up together, and then baked the mess — New York Times
c. : sufficient quantity (of a specified kind of food) for a dish or a meal
picking a little mess of red raspberries for her breakfast — Jean Stafford
a mess of string beans any time you wanted it — G.S.Perry
: catch
a mess of trout
d. dialect : the milk given by a cow at one milking
2. : a quantity of any soft, moist, smeary, or pulpy substance often of an unpleasant nature
cannot bear to be reminded that under the skin there is blood, mess , and entrails — F.R.Leavis
3.
a.
[Middle English messe, from mes course]
: one of the small groups (as of four) into which companies at banquets were formerly divided for being served — now used only of parties of benchers or students in the Inns of Court
b. : a group of persons (as of military personnel) who regularly take their meals together
every officer serving with a unit … is obliged to belong to a mess — S.G.Maurice
c. : a meal so taken
d.
(1) : a place (as a room or tent) where food or sometimes drink is served
fresh fruit was a rarity in marine messes — H.L.Merillat
were at the wine mess — Frederic Wakeman
the field mess is open — John Masters
(2) : quarters comprising both kitchen and dining areas
mess building
mess steward
mess officer
4. dialect : amount , number
a little mess of eggs — Elizabeth M. Roberts
substitute father to a mess of newly orphaned children — Newsweek
: a large quantity
a mess of preaching ain't going to alter her over — Sarah O. Jewett
a big mess of people
5.
a. : a confused, untidy, dirty, unpleasant, or offensive state or condition : hodgepodge , jumble , muss
clear away the mess left by the guests — Sherwood Anderson
the apartment was a mess — floors unswept — John & Ward Hawkins
the falling tide had left us well caught in a great mess of shoals — D.B.Putnam
b. : a disordered or unsavory situation, state, or condition resulting from misunderstanding, blundering, or misconduct
the mess he is making of his life — Carl Binger
viewed realistically, the past is merely a series of messes — E.M.Forster
— often used with in or into
get himself in a mess
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English messen, from mes, n.
transitive verb
1. now dialect Britain : to portion out (food) : deal out (as a meal) : serve
2. : to assign to a mess
personnel will be messed in the building — Crowsnest
quarter and mess them together at some distance from their places of normal duty — Infantry Journal
3.
a. : to make dirty or untidy : disarrange
his clothes are all messed
— often used with up
without getting messed up in the mud of the highroad — Richard Joseph
b. : to mix up : botch , bungle , muddle
unless his chance came in extraordinarily lucky guise, he would probably mess it — Scribner's
the schedule of appointments, carelessly messed for the day — Helen Howe
— often used with up
a variety of state standards messes up national contracts — New York Times
when something happens that messes up the girl's life — Evelyn M. Duvall
c. : damage , spoil — usually used with up
a frost which would have messed up the outdoor peaches — Nigel Balchin
d. : to interfere with — used with up
magnetic storms that mess up communications — Time
e. : to handle roughly : rough up : manhandle — used with up
intransitive verb
1. : to prepare food for and serve messes
2. : to take meals with a mess : belong to a mess
had marched and messed together through the war — Dixon Wecter
granted the privilege of messing away from the naval activity — Naval Reservist
will mess only twice a day aboard ship — Alan Surgal
mess together by tribes — C.S.Coon
3. : to make a mess : dabble
stop messing and eat your breakfast
4.
a. : putter , tinker , trifle , play
messes with motors in his spare time
child messing with his fork and spoon
b. : to become involved especially voluntarily : interfere , meddle — usually used with in or with
messing in other people's affairs
c. : to act toward someone in a rough or annoying manner : tease — usually used with with
if he ever messes with me any more — James Jones
d. : to become mixed up or confused : blunder — usually used with up
her own life messes up — H.C.Webster
III.
dialect Britain
variant of mass I