muck

noun

Save Word

\ ˈmək

Definition of muck

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : soft moist farmyard manure

2 : slimy dirt or filth

3a : defamatory remarks or writings

b : rubbish, nonsense mindless muck

4a(1) : dark highly organic soil

(2) : mire, mud

b : something resembling muck : gunk

5 : material removed in the process of excavating or mining

muck

verb

mucked; mucking; mucks

Definition of muck (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : 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)

2a : 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

Other Words from muck Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about muck

Keep scrolling for more

Synonyms & Antonyms for muck

Synonyms: Noun

Synonyms: Verb

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

Antonyms: Verb

clean,
cleanse

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 When a wildfire burns intensely, its heat drives air upward, carrying all this muck high into the atmosphere, where winds sometimes blow the smoke thousands of miles. — Paul Douglas, Star Tribune, "Record 74F at MSP Yesterday but Slush Potential Next Returns Week," 4 Nov. 2020 Skim off the muck that floats to the top every now and then. — Fortune, "Bitcoin bombs lower, touching the dreaded $30,000 range," 22 Jan. 2021 There’s also the question of Meyer’s own resilience, his ability to lose without blowing a gasket, to weather storms that so often arise in the muck of NFL competition. — Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Gordon Monson: Urban Meyer can thrive in the NFL, if it doesn’t destroy him," 15 Jan. 2021 Which was the more holy: the small muck of the animals at the first Christmas, or the antiseptic cleaner that was sprayed on the open pews just before our return to church? — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, "The Lonely Church This Christmas," 23 Dec. 2020 The ground simmers at our feet as little mud volcanoes disgorge piles of hot, sulfurous muck. — Michael J. Coren, Quartz, "Geothermal energy, the forgotten renewable, has finally arrived," 20 Dec. 2020 Wear boots -- the trail is muddy in some areas -- but the search is worth the muck. — Mary Jane Brewer, cleveland, "Keep an eye out for Yule troublemakers on Medina County hike," 31 Dec. 2020 Spain’s most prized shellfish conservas hail from the northwestern region of Galicia, where female shellfish diggers called mariscadoras trawl the muck for mollusks fetching upward of $100 a can. — Benjamin Kemper, WSJ, "Dinner From a Can, No Apologies," 17 Dec. 2020 In addition to grabbing dust and dirt off upholstery and carpets like any average muck-sucker, the 3.8-pound, cordless, Omni Air UV+ neutralizes a large number of bacteria and viruses. — Popular Science, "The 8 most helpful new home products of 2020," 3 Dec. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The drummer, composer and poet William Hooker gained renown on New York’s experimental scene of the 1970s and ’80s, where postmodernism flowed through the gutters and the idea was usually to muck things up. — New York Times, "5 Things to Do This Weekend," 18 Feb. 2021 Deeper lugs are better at biting into the ground but could hang on to mud and muck if the lugs aren’t spaced far enough apart. — Adrienne Donica, Popular Mechanics, "The Best Rubber Boots for Stomping Through Mud and Puddles," 6 Jan. 2021 But even if the tariff-happy Trump is not around in January to muck with their business, brewers worry that there is more political trouble ahead, with Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi engaged in their own saber-rattling at foreign trade. — Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, "Beer-Drinkers and Tax-Raisers," 1 Oct. 2020 Ducks and other water birds muck about while carrying myriad strains of influenza A; pigs aren’t fazed by hosting hepatitis E. — Rachel Ehrenberg, Ars Technica, "The bat-virus détente," 3 July 2020 Combining smart functionality, powerful suction, adequate runtime and ease of use, the Jashen is a formidable opponent to muck and dust. — Scott Simone, CNN Underscored, "The Jashen V16 vacuum is Dyson-like in power at half the price," 3 July 2020 Fine particles also seem to muck with the lungs’ ability to expel viruses and bacteria, hence the susceptibility to tuberculosis (caused by a bacteria) and pneumonia (an infection caused by both bacteria and viruses). — Matt Simon, Wired, "Will Wildfire Smoke Worsen the Pandemic? We're About to Find Out," 22 May 2020 And yet, the automobile didn't need hay or to have its stall mucked. — Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, "I Want An Electric Chevy Camaro IROC," 7 Apr. 2020 Within, ultraprecise experiments can take place with only minute interference from the results-mucking effects of Earth, electronics, living bodies, and more. — Sarah Lewin Frasier, Scientific American, "The Room with the Weakest Magnetic Field on Earth," 1 Aug. 2015

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'muck.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.