muck

1 of 2

noun

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 2

verb

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

Synonyms

Noun

• crud
• dirt
• filth
• grime
• gunk
• smut
• soil

Verb

• befoul
• begrime
• bemire
• besmirch
• blacken
• daub
• dirty
• distain [archaic]
• foul
• gaum [dialect]
• grime
• mire
• muddy
• smirch
• smudge
• soil
• stain
• sully

Examples of muck in a Sentence

Noun

Clean that muck off your shoes.

spattered with muck from the pigpen

Verb

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The lens has two LED green lights that filter through the mud and muck under the water. —Christopher Murray May Earn A Commission If You Buy Through Our Referral Links. This Content Was Created By A Team That Works Independently From The Fox Newsroom., FOXNews.com, 12 May 2025

In the days that followed the accident, storms and currents spread the toxic muck throughout 1,300 miles of shoreline, claiming the lives of thousands of birds, fish, otters and other wildlife. —Michael Loria, USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2025

Verb

Again, not mucking it up and people liking it, which was great. —Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 7 June 2025

No doubt, climate change threatens to muck it all up, disturbing patterns that have existed for centuries. —Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 28 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

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

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

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