muck up

verb

1. make a mess of, destroy or ruin (Freq. 1)

-

I botched the dinner and we had to eat out

-

the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement

• Syn:

↑botch, ↑bodge, ↑bumble, ↑fumble, ↑botch up, ↑muff, ↑blow, ↑flub, ↑screw up, ↑ball up, ↑spoil, ↑bungle, ↑fluff, ↑bollix, ↑bollix up, ↑bollocks, ↑bollocks up, ↑bobble, ↑mishandle, ↑louse up, ↑foul up, ↑mess up, ↑fuck up

• Derivationally related forms:

↑fuckup (for: ↑fuck up), ↑mess-up (for: ↑mess up), ↑foul-up (for: ↑foul up), ↑fluff (for: ↑fluff), ↑bungle (for: ↑bungle), ↑bungler (for: ↑bungle), ↑spoil (for: ↑spoil), ↑spoilage (for: ↑spoil), ↑spoiling (for: ↑spoil), ↑ballup (for: ↑ball up), ↑screwup (for: ↑screw up), ↑flub (for: ↑flub), ↑fumbler (for: ↑fumble), ↑bumbler (for: ↑bumble), ↑botcher (for: ↑botch), ↑botch (for: ↑botch)

• Hypernyms: ↑fail, ↑go wrong, ↑miscarry

• Verb Frames:

-

Somebody ——s

-

Somebody ——s something

2. soil with mud, muck, or mire

-

The child mucked up his shirt while playing ball in the garden

• Syn: ↑mire, ↑muck, ↑mud

• Derivationally related forms: ↑mud (for: ↑mud), ↑muck (for: ↑muck), ↑mire (for: ↑mire)

• Hypernyms: ↑dirty, ↑soil, ↑begrime, ↑grime, ↑colly, ↑bemire

• Verb Frames:

-

Somebody ——s something

-

Somebody ——s somebody

-

Something ——s somebody

-

Something ——s something

* * *

muck up [phrasal verb]

muck (something) up or muck up (something) chiefly Brit, informal

1 : to make (something) dirty

Take those dirty shoes off before you muck up the floor.

2 : to spoil or ruin (something) : to make mistakes in doing or making (something)

He mucked up [=messed up] the speech. = He mucked the speech up.

I mucked up my first attempt and had to try again.

• • •

Main Entry: ↑muck