mess
Meanings
noun
- a thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation
- a large quantity or number
- excrement.
- a person in a state of (especially emotional) turmoil or disarray; an emotional wreck
verb
- To make untidy or dirty.
- To make soiled by defecating.
- To make soiled by ejaculating.
- To throw into disorder or to ruin.
- To interfere.
noun
- Mass; a church service.
- A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; also, the food given to an animal at one time.
- A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common, especially military personnel who eat at the same table.
- A building or room in which mess is eaten.
- a type of restaurant characterized by homely-style cooking and food.
- A set of four (from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner).
- The milk given by a cow at one milking.
- A group of iguanas.
- A dessert of fruit and cream, similar to a fool.
verb
- To take meals with a mess.
- To belong to a mess.
- To eat (with others).
- To supply with a mess.
name
- A surname from German.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Perhaps a corruption of Middle English mesh (“mash”), compare muss, or derived from Etymology 2 "mixed foods, as for animals". Compare also Old English mes (“dung, excrement”).
Synonyms
Derived words
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.