muck

1 of 6

noun (1)

ˈmək 

1

: soft moist farmyard manure

2

: slimy dirt or filth

3

a

: defamatory remarks or writings

b

: rubbish, nonsense

mindless muck

4

a(1)

: dark highly organic soil

(2)

: mire, mud

b

: something resembling muck : gunk

5

: material removed in the process of excavating or mining

muck

2 of 6

verb (1)

mucked; mucking; mucks

transitive verb

1

a

: to clean up

especially : to clear of manure or filth

—usually used with out

b

: to clear of muck

2

: to dress (something, such as soil) with muck

3

: to dirty with or as if with muck : soil

intransitive verb

1

: to move or load muck (as in a mine)

2

a

: to engage in aimless activity

—usually used with about or around

b

: putter, tinker

—usually used with about or around

mucking around with his computer

c

: interfere, meddle

—usually used with about or around

mucker noun

mucker

3 of 6

verb (2)

muck·​er

ˈməkə(r)

-ed/-ing/-s

transitive verb

: botch, bungle, snarl, tangle

intransitive verb

: wander, loiter, dawdle, putter, fool, trifle

mucker

4 of 6

noun (2)

"

plural -s

chiefly British

: muck sense 4

mucker

5 of 6

noun (3)

"

plural -s

1

chiefly British : cropper entry 3

2

a(1)

: a coarse boorish person : oaf, philistine

(2)

: cad

(3)

: one that lacks the qualities of a good sportsman

(4)

: bastard sense 7

b

: a tough sometimes vicious individual : roughneck

muckerish

-k(ə)rish

adjective

mucker

6 of 6

noun (4)

muck·​er

ˈməkə(r)

plural -s

: one that clears away material (as earth, gravel, rock) from a working area: such as

a

: a mine worker who scrapes up the chippings left in the channels made by a coal-cutting machine

b

: one that clears bark and debris from a log landing

Synonyms of muck

Noun (1)

• dirt
• soil
• sludge
• sewage
• filth
• garbage

Verb (1)

• stain
• dirty
• mess
• soil
• muddy
• blacken
• mire

Examples of muck in a Sentence

Noun (1)

Clean that muck off your shoes.

spattered with muck from the pigpen

Verb (1)

you can't work in the garden and not expect to muck your clothes

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

People get mired in all kinds of muck and yuck by the slop on social media. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026

Real estate executive Gloria Caulfield was the first to prominently step into the muck at the University of Central Florida. —Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 20 May 2026

Verb

The Socceroos will try their best to muck it up and play a very defensive brand of soccer against America, while also boasting a great goalkeeper in Matthew Ryan. —Austin Perry, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2026

But Ehlers has given Carolina a newfound level of offensive depth, especially given he’s meshed surprisingly well with Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook, two veteran checkers who have been mucking and grinding for years on a team that does that better than anyone. —James Mirtle, New York Times, 24 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1) and Noun (3)

Middle English muk, perhaps from Old English -moc; akin to Old Norse myki dung

Verb (2)

frequentative of muck entry 2

and Noun (4)

First Known Use

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing muck

• high-muck-a-muck
• high-muckety-muck
• make a muck of (something)
• muck about/around
• muck about/around with
• muck-a-muck
• muckety-muck
• muck in
• muck out
• muck up
• mucky-muck

Rhymes for muck

• chuck
• cluck
• duck
• huck
• luck
• pluck
• puck
• ruck
• schmuck
• shuck
• snuck
• struck

Kids Definition

muck

1 of 2 noun

ˈmək 

1

: soft moist barnyard manure

2

: dirt sense 1, filth

3

a

: dark rich soil

b

: mud, mire

mucky

ˈmək-ē

adjective

muck

2 of 2 verb

1

: to clean up

especially : to clear of manure or filth

2

: to dress with muck

3

: to dirty with or as if with muck