muck

1 noun (U) informal

1 especially BrE something such as dirt, mud, or another sticky substance that makes something dirty: Come on, let's wipe that muck off your face.

2 BrE waste matter from animals, especially waste matter that is put on land to make plants grow better: dog muck | They were shovelling muck onto the fields.

3 something that is unpleasant or of very bad quality: How can you eat that muck? It looks disgusting. | All that paper ever prints is muck about people's sex lives.

4 as common as muck BrE old-fashioned an insulting way of describing someone of a low social class

2 verb muck about/around phrasal verb BrE informal

1 (I) to behave in a silly way, especially when you should be working or paying attention to something; mess around (mess2): Stop mucking about and listen! | We spent the days mucking around on the beach.

2 (transitive muck someone/something about/around) to cause trouble and inconvenience for someone, especially by changing your mind a lot; mess around (mess2): The travel agent has really been mucking me around over this holiday.

muck in phrasal verb (I) BrE informal

1 to work together with other people in order to get a job done; pitch in (pitch1): Oh, stop moaning - we've all got to muck in!

2 to share things with other people: We're a bit short of space. Do you mind mucking in with the other boys?

muck sth out phrasal verb (I, T) to clean the place where an animal lives: to muck out the stables muck sth up phrasal verb (T) BrE informal

1 to do something wrong or badly, so that you fail to achieve something: I really mucked up those last two exams.

2 to spoil something, especially an arrangement or plan: The bad weather mucked up our plans for a picnic.

3 to make something dirty: Don't muck up your shirt.