Definition

1. Noun:

   • Animal feces, especially from farm animals: "Muck" primarily refers to the excrement of animals, particularly livestock like cows or horses, often used as manure.
   • Dirt, filth, or a messy substance: "Muck" can also describe any wet, sticky, and dirty matter, such as mud or slime.
   • Something regarded as worthless or unpleasant: Informally, "muck" can refer to rubbish, trash, or something considered disgusting.

2. Verb:

   • To make dirty or soil: To cover something with dirt, mud, or filth.
   • To spread manure: To apply animal excrement as fertilizer on land.
   • To clean or remove waste: To clear away muck, such as in a stable or mine.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The farmer spread the muck from the cowshed onto the fields.
  • After the rain, the yard was covered in muck.
  • He had to clean all the muck out of the old shed.

• Verb:

  • Be careful not to muck your new shoes in that puddle.
  • It's time to muck the garden before planting the new seeds.
  • The workers were assigned to muck out the stables every morning.

Advanced Usage

• "to be in a muck": to be in a dirty or messy state.
  • The kitchen was in a muck after they finished cooking.
• "to make a muck of something": to do something very badly; to ruin or spoil something.
  • I'm afraid I've made a muck of this report and will have to start over.

Variants and Related Words

• Mucky (adj): dirty, covered in muck.
  • Her boots were mucky after the walk through the field.
• Muckrake (v): to search for and expose scandal, especially about famous people.
  • The journalist was known to muckrake about corrupt politicians.

Synonyms

• Noun: Dung, manure, filth, sludge, grime.
• Verb: Dirty, soil, befoul, manure, clean out.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Muck about/around (British informal): to behave in a silly way or waste time.
  • Stop mucking about and help me with this work.
• Muck in (British informal): to join in and help with an activity, especially one involving physical work.
  • Everyone mucked in to clean up after the party.
• Muck up (informal): to spoil or ruin something; to make something dirty.
  • He mucked up his chances by arriving late for the interview.
  • The children mucked up the floor with their muddy boots.

Related Idioms

• "Where there's muck, there's brass" (British saying): This means that dirty or unpleasant work can be profitable. (Brass is a slang term for money).
  • He doesn't mind the hard labor on the farm; he believes where there's muck, there's brass.

Noun

1. fecal matter of animals
2. any thick, viscous matter

Verb

1. soil with mud, muck, or mire
   • The child mucked up his shirt while playing ball in the garden
2. spread manure, as for fertilization
3. remove muck, clear away muck, as in a mine