mess

/mes/

Thân thiện

The children made a big mess with their toys on the living room floor.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • A state of untidiness or disorder: "mess" refers to a situation where things are dirty, disorganized, or in confusion.
   • A difficult or unpleasant situation: Informally, "mess" can describe a problematic or complicated state of affairs.
   • A place where a group of people, especially soldiers, eat together: In a military context, "mess" is a dining hall or the group eating there.
   • A quantity of soft, often unappetizing, food: "Mess" can denote a portion of semiliquid or mixed food.

2. Verb:

   • To make something dirty or untidy: "mess" means to disorder or soil something.
   • To eat meals in a group setting, especially in the military: "mess" means to take meals in a communal dining area.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • His room was a complete mess after the party. (The room was very untidy.)
  • The company's finances are in a terrible mess. (The financial situation is problematic.)
  • The officers gathered in the mess for dinner. (They gathered in the military dining hall.)
  • The dog was given a mess of leftovers. (The dog was given a portion of mixed food.)

• Verb:

  • Don't mess up the clean kitchen with your cooking. (Don't make the kitchen untidy.)
  • The soldiers mess together in the hall. (The soldiers eat together in the dining hall.)

Advanced Usage

• "to make a mess of something": to handle something badly, causing failure or disorder.

  • He made a mess of the presentation by forgetting his notes. (He handled the presentation poorly.)

• "to be in a mess": to be in a state of disorder or difficulty.

  • The project schedule is in a mess after the delays. (The schedule is disorganized.)

• "mess hall": a large room for eating, especially in the military or an institution.

  • Lunch is served in the mess hall at noon. (Lunch is served in the communal dining room.)

Variants and Related Words

• Messy (adj): untidy, dirty, or disorderly.

  • Cleaning the messy garage took all day. (The garage was very untidy.)

• Messiness (n): the state or quality of being messy.

  • The messiness of the situation made it hard to resolve. (The disorder of the situation made resolution difficult.)

Synonyms

• Disarray: a state of disorganization or untidiness.
• Chaos: complete disorder and confusion.
• Jumble: an untidy collection of things.
• Predicament: a difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Mess up: to make something dirty, untidy, or to fail at something.

  • I messed up the recipe by adding salt instead of sugar. (I ruined the recipe.)

• Mess about/around (with):

  • To spend time doing things without a clear purpose or in a silly way.

    • Stop messing about and help me clean! (Stop wasting time and help.)
  • To handle or interfere with something carelessly.

    • Don't mess around with the electrical wiring. (Don't handle the wiring carelessly.)

• Mess with (someone/something): to interfere with or become involved with someone or something, often provocatively.

  • You don't want to mess with him when he's angry. (You shouldn't provoke or interfere with him.)

Related Idioms

• A mess of pottage: something of immediate value but little worth compared to what is given up for it (from the biblical story of Esau).

  • Selling the family heirloom for quick cash was like trading it for a mess of pottage. (It was a bad trade for something of lesser value.)

• Clear up the mess: to resolve a difficult or disordered situation.

  • The new manager was hired to clear up the mess in the department. (To fix the problems in the department.)

Học thuật

Noun

1. (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
   • a batch of letters
   • a deal of trouble
   • a lot of money
   • he made a mint on the stock market
   • see the rest of the winners in our huge passel of photos
   • it must have cost plenty
   • a slew of journalists
   • a wad of money
2. a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax
3. a meal eaten in a mess hall by service personnel
4. soft semiliquid food
   • a mess of porridge
5. informal terms for a difficult situation
   • he got into a terrible fix
   • he made a muddle of his marriage
6. a state of confusion and disorderliness
   • the house was a mess
   • she smoothed the mussiness of the bed

Verb

1. make a mess of or create disorder in
   • He messed up his room
2. eat in a mess hall

Từ đồng nghĩa

• batch
• mess hall
• fix
• hole
• jam
• muddle
• pickle
• kettle of fish
• messiness
• muss
• mussiness
• mess up