| 释义 |
muck
I. \ˈmək\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English muk, perhaps from Old English -moc; akin to Old Norse myki dung — more at mucus
1. : soft moist farmyard manure especially when mixed with decomposing vegetable material and used as a fertilizer
2. obsolete : money
3.
a.
(1) : wet clinging slimy dirt or filth
< spattered with muck from the pigpen >
(2) : something (as defamatory remarks) that injures or tends to injure the reputation or standing of another
< throwing as much muck as possible at her rivals >
b.
(1) chiefly dialect : rubbish, trash, junk
(2) : idle remarks or observations : nonsense, guff
< recall some muck about chucking someone out — Ernest Hemingway >
< the usual muck of old-timers and loafers — S.E.White >
4.
a. : an untidy or messy condition
< was all in a muck of sweat >
b. : a state of confusion, uncertainty, or disorganization : a fouled-up condition
< has made such a muck of things — Agatha Christie >
< we're all in a muck, and we're to do the best we can — Richard Llewellyn >
5.
a.
(1) : a dark usually black earth that is capable of absorbing much water, that is usually moist or wet so as to have a consistency like that of moist or wet loam or humus, that is marked by the presence of organic usually plant matter in an advanced state of decomposition and in a proportion of usually less than 50 percent, that is rich in nitrogen and relatively low in mineral content (as potash) and that is very fertile
(2) : earth resembling such muck in wetness or sogginess : soft wet mud : mire
< floundering through the wet black muck — Marjory S. Douglas >
b. : something that is oozy, viscid, or sticky like such muck : goo, gunk
< was given some kind of muck to use as a salve >
c. : a heavy soggy, slushy, or slimy deposit or mass of sedimentation or some similar heavy wet mass : sludge
< oily muck on the floor of a garage >
< pushed through the muck of dirty snow and half-thawed ice >
< muck at the bottom of the drainpipe >
6. : material removed in the process of excavating or mining: as
a. : the total mass of material (as soft earth, hardpan, gravel, rock) so removed
b. : ore or rock in a loose heap as first broken in the process of mining
c. : the material removed by hydraulic mining
II. verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English mukken, from muk, n.
transitive verb
1.
a. : to clean up; especially : to clear of manure or filth
< an old pair of boots with rubber feet and felt tops that were used for mucking out the corrals and the pigpen — W.V.T.Clark >
b.
(1) : to clear of material (as soft earth, gravel, rock) in the process of excavating or mining
< mucking an excavation >
(2) : to dig out or otherwise remove (as soft earth, gravel, rock) in the process of excavating or mining
< after each blast they mucked out the rock >
2. : to cover with manure or some other fertilizing muck
< mucking the orchards each year >
3.
a. : to dirty with or as if with muck : soil
< you can't touch pitch and not be mucked — R.L.Stevenson >
b. : to dirty by tracking or littering : make untidy or messy
< mucked up the floor >
4. chiefly Britain
a. : to make a mess of : botch, bungle
< was afraid of mucking up the experiment >
b. : to throw into a state of confusion or disorganization : foul up : snarl, tangle
< acting mucks up childhood — Clemence Dane >
< mucked up every plan >
5. chiefly Britain : to push around : shove
< still mucking the salt about — Richard Llewellyn >
< mucked about by the last war, by inflations and depressions — Time >
intransitive verb
1. dialect England : to work energetically or slavishly : toil, drudge
2. chiefly Britain
a.
(1) : to move about aimlessly or idly : wander, loiter
< the country was full of people mucking about the fields — A.J.Liebling >
(2) : to waste time in trivial or altogether useless activities : dawdle, putter
< mucking about in the affairs of other peoples — A.J.Nock >
b. : to play around : mess around : fool, trifle
< hadn't mucked around with boys since the time when she was little — Ruth Park >
< mucking about with some sort of occultism — Ngaio Marsh >
III. noun
(-s)
Etymology: alteration of amuck (initial vowel taken as indefinite article a)
archaic : the act of running amok |