muck
(mŭk)n.1. A moist sticky mixture, especially of mud and filth.
2. Moist farmyard dung; manure.
3. Dark fertile soil containing decaying vegetable matter.
4. Something filthy or disgusting.
5. Earth, rocks, or clay excavated in mining.
6. The pile of discarded cards, as in poker: threw his hand into the muck.
v. mucked, muck·ing, mucks
v.tr.1. To fertilize with manure or compost.
2. To make dirty, especially with muck.
3. To remove muck or dirt from (a mine, for example).
4. To fold (one's hand) in a card game, especially by pushing one's cards away.
v.intr. To muck one's hand in a card game.
Phrasal Verbs: muck about Chiefly British To spend time idly; putter.
muck up Informal To bungle, damage, or ruin.
[Middle English muk, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse myki, dung.]
muck′i·ly adv.
muck′y adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
muck up
vb (
adverb)
1. (tr) Brit and Austral to ruin or spoil; make a mess of
2. (intr) Austral to misbehave
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014