muck

1 of 2

noun

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

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
But every few minutes, one of the diggers scuttled out of the muck clutching a keeper. Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Sep. 2023 Cars and RVs stuck in the mud led to hours-long traffic jams; local farmers were enlisted to haul vehicles out of the muck with their tractors. Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 13 Sep. 2023 And so our job is to get out of that muck and to get back on our feet, making the case. Nbc Universal, NBC News, 10 Sep. 2023 The tar pits provide a remarkably complete cross-section of life at the time, preserving birds, small reptiles, insects, plants and even pollen that fell into the muck along with larger mammals. Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2023 Pigs played in the muck; sows rested in shaded bedding. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2023 There, on Instagram, were comedian Chris Rock and the DJ Diplo, hitching an early ride out after hiking through the muck for miles. Daniel D'addario, Variety, 5 Sep. 2023 In the muck, Carla Neal found her great-grandfather’s fishing pole that used to hang over the door of the shop. Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2023 There is a precedent for people being in the muck, but still figuring out where to go next. Michael Schaub, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Aug. 2023
Verb
Overview Mud is some of nature's best medicine, and mucking through it in the Ford Bronco comes strongly recommended. Austin Irwin, Car and Driver, 11 Aug. 2023 But here’s the thing: Blizzard really has mucked things up at a very inopportune time. Antonio G. Di Benedetto, The Verge, 19 July 2023 At least part of the movie was filmed in Boston, which must have been a nice break for Zendaya after mucking about in the sand for Dune. Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 20 June 2023 As the stakes rise, so do the incentives for people to muck about, influence, or even replace A.I. algorithms with ones that better serve their interests. Ben Weiss, Fortune Crypto, 4 May 2023 There seemed to be concern that tacking on amendments would muck that agreement up, Grant said. Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 11 Apr. 2023 Ahead were a mother and two toddlers, pushing milk crates for balance and a teenager mucking around with a hockey puck. Joanna Slater, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Feb. 2023 Horan didn’t muck about. Lars Brandle, Billboard, 15 Mar. 2023 Nominated for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the Oscars, Matt Reeves mucks around in the seedy (and somewhat sociopathic) aspects of Bruce Wayne to uncover a Batman whose darkness illuminates the superhero’s very existence. Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 10 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'muck.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of muck was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near muck

Cite this Entry

“Muck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/muck. Accessed 25 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

muck

1 of 2 noun
ˈmək
1
: soft moist barnyard manure
2
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

More from Merriam-Webster on muck

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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