MUCK


Meaning of MUCK in English

I. ˈmək noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English muk, perhaps from Old English -moc; akin to Old Norse myki dung — more at mucus

1. : soft moist farmyard manure especially when mixed with decomposing vegetable material and used as a fertilizer

2. obsolete : money

3.

a.

(1) : wet clinging slimy dirt or filth

spattered with muck from the pigpen

(2) : something (as defamatory remarks) that injures or tends to injure the reputation or standing of another

throwing as much muck as possible at her rivals

b.

(1) chiefly dialect : rubbish , trash , junk

(2) : idle remarks or observations : nonsense , guff

recall some muck about chucking someone out — Ernest Hemingway

the usual muck of old-timers and loafers — S.E.White

4.

a. : an untidy or messy condition

was all in a muck of sweat

b. : a state of confusion, uncertainty, or disorganization : a fouled-up condition

has made such a muck of things — Agatha Christie

we're all in a muck , and we're to do the best we can — Richard Llewellyn

5.

a.

(1) : a dark usually black earth that is capable of absorbing much water, that is usually moist or wet so as to have a consistency like that of moist or wet loam or humus, that is marked by the presence of organic usually plant matter in an advanced state of decomposition and in a proportion of usually less than 50 percent, that is rich in nitrogen and relatively low in mineral content (as potash) and that is very fertile

(2) : earth resembling such muck in wetness or sogginess : soft wet mud : mire

floundering through the wet black muck — Marjory S. Douglas

b. : something that is oozy, viscid, or sticky like such muck : goo , gunk

was given some kind of muck to use as a salve

c. : a heavy soggy, slushy, or slimy deposit or mass of sedimentation or some similar heavy wet mass : sludge

oily muck on the floor of a garage

pushed through the muck of dirty snow and half-thawed ice

muck at the bottom of the drainpipe

6. : material removed in the process of excavating or mining: as

a. : the total mass of material (as soft earth, hardpan, gravel, rock) so removed

b. : ore or rock in a loose heap as first broken in the process of mining

c. : the material removed by hydraulic mining

II. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English mukken, from muk, n.

transitive verb

1.

a. : to clean up ; especially : to clear of manure or filth

an old pair of boots with rubber feet and felt tops that were used for mucking out the corrals and the pigpen — W.V.T.Clark

b.

(1) : to clear of material (as soft earth, gravel, rock) in the process of excavating or mining

mucking an excavation

(2) : to dig out or otherwise remove (as soft earth, gravel, rock) in the process of excavating or mining

after each blast they mucked out the rock

2. : to cover with manure or some other fertilizing muck

mucking the orchards each year

3.

a. : to dirty with or as if with muck : soil

you can't touch pitch and not be mucked — R.L.Stevenson

b. : to dirty by tracking or littering : make untidy or messy

mucked up the floor

4. chiefly Britain

a. : to make a mess of : botch , bungle

was afraid of mucking up the experiment

b. : to throw into a state of confusion or disorganization : foul up : snarl , tangle

acting mucks up childhood — Clemence Dane

mucked up every plan

5. chiefly Britain : to push around : shove

still mucking the salt about — Richard Llewellyn

mucked about by the last war, by inflations and depressions — Time

intransitive verb

1. dialect England : to work energetically or slavishly : toil , drudge

2. chiefly Britain

a.

(1) : to move about aimlessly or idly : wander , loiter

the country was full of people mucking about the fields — A.J.Liebling

(2) : to waste time in trivial or altogether useless activities : dawdle , putter

mucking about in the affairs of other peoples — A.J.Nock

b. : to play around : mess around : fool , trifle

hadn't mucked around with boys since the time when she was little — Ruth Park

mucking about with some sort of occultism — Ngaio Marsh

III. noun

( -s )

Etymology: alteration of amuck (initial vowel taken as indefinite article a )

archaic : the act of running amok

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.