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

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

Verb

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

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

Over the last 15 years, more than two-thirds of the waterway has been slowly brought back to life through concerted efforts to remove or cap toxic muck. —Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025

Just as happened in the Tri-Lakes pilot at the Lake Arrowhead marina, results showed more oxygen and less muck at the bottom, meaning less phosphorus being released. —Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Verb

There are also sparking car engines, microwave ovens, lightning strikes, GPS signals, reflections off the ionosphere, and even bird poop on the antenna to muck things up. —David Szondy july 27, New Atlas, 27 July 2025

After 30 years of mucking about with a kings-of-Britpop rivalry, Damon Albarn is admitting what everyone and Flimsy Steve have known for some time: Oasis is a bigger deal than Blur. —Devon Ivie, Vulture, 11 July 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