muddy

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Covered or splashed with, or full of, mud (“wet soil”).

   • He slogged across the muddy field.
   • Take off your muddy boots before you come inside.
   • It [the cistern] muſt be firmely and cloſely paued vvith clay and mortar, and after dravvne ouer and floored vvith the ſame mortar, to the ende that the vvater be not made muddy or taſt of the earth: […]
2. 2

   Of water or some other liquid

   Of water or some other liquid: containing mud or (by extension) other sediment in suspension; cloudy, turbid.

   • The previously limpid water was now muddy as a result of the struggle between the alligator and the wild boar.
   • [A]s for his vvater [i.e., the horse's urine], the more pure, it is the better, and the more muddy, thicke, and pleaſant,^([sic – meaning unpleasant?]) ſo much the more vnhealthfull.
   • [T]he moſt generous VVines are the moſt muddy, before they are fine.
3. 3

   Of or relating to mud

   Of or relating to mud; also, having the characteristics of mud, especially in colour or taste.

   • [H]er garments, heauy vvith her drinke, / Pul'd the poore vvretch from her melodious buy^([sic – meaning lay]), / To muddy death.
4. ›+ 18 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Soiled with feces.

   2. 5

      Of an animal or plant

      Of an animal or plant: growing or living in mud.

   3. 6

      Dirty, filthy.

      • Thou sweet Arabian Panchaia, / Perfume this nastie age, smugge Lesbia / Hath stinking lunges, although a simpring grace, / A muddy inside, though a sulphul'd face.
   4. 7

      Not clear.

      • To vvhat, my loue, ſhall I compare thine eyne? / Chriſtall is muddy.
      • Faces never lie, it is said. […] When a man speaks the truth in the spirit of truth, his eye is as clear as the heavens. When he has base ends, and speaks falsely, the eye is muddy and sometimes asquint.
      • At the end of a class or a lecture, ask students to write for one or two minutes about the "muddiest point" of the lesson (the part of the lesson that is still not understood clearly).
   5. 8

      Originally, morally or religiously wrong

      Originally, morally or religiously wrong; corrupt, sinful; now, morally or legally dubious; shady, sketchy.

      • Business is business; and your business, let me remind you, is too muddy for such airs.
      • I have been to the depths of the muddy lives of the Bertha Couttses of this world, and when, released from the current of gossip, I slowly rise to the surface again, I look at the daylight in wonder that it ever should be.
   6. 9

      Of a person or their facial expression

      Of a person or their facial expression: angry, sad, or sulky.

   7. 10

      Slightly drunk

      Slightly drunk; tipsy.

      • [N]ot that he gets drunk, for he is a very pious man, but he is always muddy.
   8. 11

      To cover or splash (someone or something) with mud.

      • If you muddy your shoes don’t wear them inside.
      • [T]hey splashed George. He was quiet: they feared they had offended him. Then all the forces of youth burst out. He smiled, flung himself at them, splashed them, ducked them, kicked them, muddied them, and drove them out of the pool.
   9. 12

      To make (water or some other liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up mud or other…

      To make (water or some other liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up mud or other sediment.

      • His life had hitherto been so quiet, so free from strife; […] It was so hard that the pleasant waters of his little stream should be disturbed and muddied by rough hands; […]
   10. 13

       To confuse (a person or their thinking)

       To confuse (a person or their thinking); to muddle.

       • The discussion only muddied their understanding of the subject.
       • I only recreated an imagination, fatigued by contemplating the vices and follies which all proceed from a feculent ſtream of wealth that has muddied the pure rills of natural affection, […]
   11. 14

       To damage (a person or their reputation)

       To damage (a person or their reputation); to sully, to tarnish.

   12. 15

       To make (a colour) dirty, dull, or muted.

       • The addition of the second batch of paint muddied the bright colours to a dull and washed look.
   13. 16

       To make (a matter, etc.) more complicated or unclear

       To make (a matter, etc.) more complicated or unclear; to make a mess of (something).

       • As the humans establish tentative bonds with their evolutionary cousins, the inter-species waters start to muddy.
   14. 17

       To make (something) impure

       To make (something) impure; to contaminate.

   15. 18

       To cause or permit (someone or something) to become stuck in mud

       To cause or permit (someone or something) to become stuck in mud; to mire.

       • […] I am novv ſir muddied in fortunes mood, and ſmell ſomevvhat ſtrong of her ſtrong diſpleaſure.
   16. 19

       Sometimes followed by up

       Sometimes followed by up: to become covered or splashed with mud; to become dirty or soiled.

   17. 20

       To become contaminated or impure.

   18. 21

       The edible mud crab or mangrove crab (Scylla serrata).

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