Definition of mess in English English dictionary
- The milk given by a cow at one milking
- A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common; especially, persons in the military or naval service who eat at the same table
The wardroom mess.
- A set of four; — from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner
- To eat (with others)
I mess with the wardroom officers.
- A disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a situation resulting from blundering or from misunderstanding; a disorder
He made a mess of it.
- To supply with a mess
- Mass; church service
- excrement
Parked under a tree, my car was soon covered in birds' mess.
- A large quantity or number
My boss dumped a whole mess of projects on my desk today.
- To take meals with a mess
- To belong to a mess
- 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 a beast at one time
A mess of pottage.
- A disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a situation resulting from blundering or from misunderstanding; as, he made a mess of it
- A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common; especially, persons in the military or naval service who eat at the same table; as, the wardroom mess
- A mess is something liquid or sticky that has been accidentally dropped on something. I'll clear up the mess later
- {f} interfere with, meddle; make dirty or untidy; bungle; make an error; eat in company; beat someone up (Slang); waste time (Slang); be involved in an immoral or unethical situation (Slang)
- If you say that something is a mess or in a mess, you think that it is in an untidy state. The house is a mess Linda can't stand mess
- {n} a feeding together, portion, dish, a number who eat together
- {v} to join in mess, to eat or feed together
- {i} disorder, disarray, dirtiness; predicament, quandary; place where meals are served to a large group (military, etc.); dish or quantity of soft or liquid food
- A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; as, a mess of pottage; also, the food given to a beast at one time
- If you say that a situation is a mess, you mean that it is full of trouble or problems. You can also say that something is in a mess. I've made such a mess of my life. the many reasons why the economy is in such a mess
- A set of four; from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner
- a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax
- soft semiliquid food; "a mess of porridge"
- a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax a meal eaten by service personnel soft semiliquid food; "a mess of porridge"
- The mess at a military base or military barracks is the building in which members of the armed forces can eat or relax. a party at the officers' mess
- This is another term for preparation of food
- a state of confusion and disorderliness; "the house was a mess"; "she smoothed the mussiness of the bed"
- a meal eaten by service personnel
- a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax a meal eaten by service personnel soft semiliquid food; "a mess of porridge" a state of confusion and disorderliness; "the house was a mess"; "she smoothed the mussiness of the bed" make a mess of or create disorder in; "He messed up his room" eat in a mess hall
- Dining room facilities and kitchen for crew separate from the passenger dining room and kitchen (see also Officer's Mess)
- To make a mess of; to disorder or muddle; to muss; to jumble; to disturb
- make a mess of or create disorder in; "He messed up his room"
- = 4 Nares says because at great dinners the company was usually arranged into fours That four made a mess is without doubt Lyly expressly says, Foure makes a messe, and we have a messe of masters (Mother Bombie, ii 1) Shakespeare calls the four sons of Henry his mess of sons (2 Henry VI , act i 4); and Latine, English, French, and Spanish are called a messe of tongues (Vocabulary, 1617) Again, Shakespeare says (Love's Labour's Lost, iv 3), You three fools lacked me to make up the mess Though four made a mess, yet it does not follow that the officer's mess is so called, as Nares says, because the company was arranged into fours, for the Anglo-Saxon mesc, like the Latin mensa = table, mes Gothic = dish, whence Benjamin's mess, a mess of pottage, etc Mess, meaning confusion or litter, is the German mischen, to mix; our word mash
- To take meals with a mess; to belong to a mess; to eat (with others); as, I mess with the wardroom officers
- A set of four; - from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner
- eat in a mess hall
- (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"; "it must have cost plenty"
- informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage"
- Multi-Emulator-Super-System
- bollix
- mess around
- To joke, kid, or play
Don't mess around with electricity if you don't understand it.
- mess around
- To fiddle idly
These guys don't mess around! They finished the whole job in ten minutes.
- mess around
- To have a non-committal sexual relationship
Rumor has it that he's messing around with his secretary.
- mess dress
- mess kit (military uniform)
- mess hall
- : A military dining room or building on an army or marine base
- mess kit
- A formal uniform, worn for occasions such as mess dinners
- mess kit
- A compact set of eating utensils (including plate, cup, utensils) and sometimes cooking pots etc, used in the field by soldiers and by campers
- mess kits
- plural form of mess kit
- mess of pottage
- Something of trivial value, especially of immediate value
- mess tent
- a tent used to shelter people eating in a group, especially in a military or working setting
- mess up
- To botch, bungle; to perform poorly on
Well, I messed up my solo, but otherwise it was a good concert.
- mess up
- To damage; injure
He messed up his elbow at the track meet.
- mess up
- To discombobulate, utterly confuse, or confound psychologically; to throw into a state of mental disarray
That girl totally messed me up, man. I'm not sure who I am anymore.
- mess up
- To make a mistake; to do something incorrectly; to perform poorly
She messed up on her final exam.
- mess up
- To cause a problem with; to introduce an error or mistake in; to make muddled or confused; spoil; ruin
The change messed something up, and it's not working anymore.
- mess up
- To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss
The afternoon breeze messed up my hair.
- mess up
- To manhandle; beat up; rough up
Her brother's friends messed him up a little after he cheated on her.
- mess up
- To cause (another person) to make unwanted mistakes in a given task, usually through distraction or obnoxious behavior
Stop bumping me! You keep messing me up!.
- mess with
- to diss; to put down
Hey! Quit messing with my brother.
- mess with
- to interfere
Don't mess with the controls. I just got everything adjusted correctly.
- mess with
- to joke around with someone (either friendly or unfriendly)
Don't worry, I'm just messing with you.
- mess up
- make a mess of or create disorder in; "He messed up his room"
- mess up
- make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement"
- mess up
- disturb the smoothness of; "ruffle the surface of the water"
- mess about
- be about; "The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square"; "Who is this man that is hanging around the department?"
- mess about
- loiter, remain idle in one place
- mess around
- If you mess someone around or mess them about, you treat them badly, for example by not being honest with them, or by continually changing plans which affect them. I think they've been messed around far too much
- mess around
- If you mess around or mess about, you spend time doing things without any particular purpose or without achieving anything. We were just messing around playing with paint Boys and girls will enjoy messing about with any kind of machine
- mess around
- If someone is messing around or messing about, they are behaving in a joking or silly way. I thought she was messing about. = fool around
- mess around
- do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly; "The old lady is usually mucking about in her little house"
- mess around
- loiter, remain idle in one place
- mess around
- If you say that someone is messing around with or messing about with something, you mean that they are interfering with it in a harmful way. I'd like to know who's been messing about with the pram
- mess beef
- Barreled salt beef, packed with about 80 pounds chuck and rump, two flanks, and the rest plates
- mess hall
- A mess hall is a large room where a particular group of people, especially members of the armed forces, eat meals together. A building or room used for serving and eating meals, as on an army post. a large room where soldiers eat
- mess hall
- large place where meals are served to a large group (military, etc.)
- mess hall
- a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax
- mess jacket
- {i} monkey jacket, shell-jacket, tight-fitting evening jacket worn as part of a uniform (by officers in the mess for formal dinners)
- mess jacket
- waist-length jacket tapering to a point at the back; worn by officers in the mess for formal dinners
- mess jacket
- A waist-length fitted jacket, worn chiefly as part of a uniform on formal occasions. Also called monkey jacket, shell jacket
- mess kit
- kit containing a metal dish and eating utensils; used by soldiers and campers
- mess kit
- {i} compact set of metal cooking and eating utensils placed in a compact kit and used by campers or soldiers in the field
- mess kit
- A set of cooking and eating utensils compactly arranged in a kit, used by soldiers and campers
- mess of pottage
- anything of trivial value; "Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage
- mess of pottage
- anything of trivial value; "Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage"
- mess tin
- soldier's eating utensils
- mess up
- make a mess of or create disorder in; "He messed up his room"
- mess up
- If you mess something up or if you mess up, you cause something to fail or be spoiled. When politicians mess things up, it is the people who pay the price He had messed up one career If I messed up, I would probably be fired
- mess up
- make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement"
- mess up
- disturb the smoothness of; "ruffle the surface of the water"
- mess up
- spoil; make a mess; beat up badly
- mess up
- If you mess up a place or a thing, you make it untidy or dirty. I hope they haven't messed up your video tapes
- mess up
- If something messes someone up, it causes them to be very confused or worried, or to have psychological problems. That really messed them up, especially the boys
- mess with
- become involved with, start with; cause problems
- mess with
- If you tell someone not to mess with a person or thing, you are warning them not to get involved with that person or thing. You are messing with people's religion and they don't like that Do you know who you're messing with -- do you know who I am?
- mess-up
- something badly botched or muddled
- Eton mess
- An English dessert of strawberries with cream and pieces of meringue, traditionally served at the prize-giving picnic of Eton College
- Mills Mess
- A pattern that involves crossing and uncrossing the arms while juggling
- hot mess
- A warm meal, usually cooked in a large pot, often similar to a stew or porridge; or, service of such a heated meal to soldiers
The men there would have settled for a Coleman stove and a hot-mess line, but the greatest contribution to their spirits, plus or minus, was mail call.
- hot mess
- A person, thing, or situation in such a state of disarray or disapproval by peers, often in reference to physical appearance, perceived to be disastrously embarrassing, pitiful, or beyond repair
She looked a hot mess, with bloodshot red eyes and mascara running down her face.
- lose the number of one's mess
- to die, to perish
Shore folk think sailors are heartless, and that when a poor chap is lost overboard, they only say that So-and-so has lost the number of his mess! and, after having an auction over his kit in the fo'c's'le, then dismiss him from their memory! — J.C. Hutcheson, Fritz and Eric, 1880.
- sell one's birthright for a mess of pottage
- To make an unfavorable exchange, especially of something of great, but deferred value for something of very low, but immediate value
a. 1832, Jeremy Bentham, Constitutional Code:An elector, who by his vote should contribute to the establishment of a constitution having for its effect, instead of the greatest happiness of the greatest number, the greatest or supposed greatest happiness of the ruling few at the expense of the happiness of the many, would, supposing himself to become in consequence of the misrule, a sufferer to a greater amount than that of the benefit received by his vote, be an Esau selling his birthright for a mess of pottage.
- -mess
- a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax
- -mess
- Multi-Emulator-Super-System
- -mess
- This is another term for preparation of food
- -mess
- make a mess of or create disorder in; "He messed up his room"
- -mess
- a state of confusion and disorderliness; "the house was a mess"; "she smoothed the mussiness of the bed"
- -mess
- fix: informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage"
- -mess
- soft semiliquid food; "a mess of porridge"
- -mess
- a meal eaten by service personnel
- -mess
- = 4 Nares says because at great dinners the company was usually arranged into fours That four made a mess is without doubt Lyly expressly says, Foure makes a messe, and we have a messe of masters (Mother Bombie, ii 1) Shakespeare calls the four sons of Henry his mess of sons (2 Henry VI , act i 4); and Latine, English, French, and Spanish are called a messe of tongues (Vocabulary, 1617) Again, Shakespeare says (Love's Labour's Lost, iv 3), You three fools lacked me to make up the mess Though four made a mess, yet it does not follow that the officer's mess is so called, as Nares says, because the company was arranged into fours, for the Anglo-Saxon mesc, like the Latin mensa = table, mes Gothic = dish, whence Benjamin's mess, a mess of pottage, etc Mess, meaning confusion or litter, is the German mischen, to mix; our word mash
- -mess
- eat in a mess hall
- -mess
- batch: (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"; "it must have cost plenty"
- -mess
- Dining room facilities and kitchen for crew separate from the passenger dining room and kitchen (see also Officer's Mess)
- big mess
- big trouble, great disorder, great deal of confusion
- don't mess with me
- don't start with me, don't bother me
- got himself into a mess
- became entangled in a problem
- got himself out of the mess
- got disentangled, got himself out of the problem
- in a mess
- disorderly, in disarray, messy; in trouble, in a predicament, in a fix
- look a mess
- look bad, look untidy and disheveled
- made a mess
- dirtied, untidied
- made a total mess
- created confusion and disorder
- make a glorious mess
- cause disorder, cause confusion
- make a mess
- {f} create disorder, mess up; spoil, disrupt
- make a mess of
- mishandle, bungle, screw up, spoil, ruin, wreck; mess up, botch
- messed
- past of mess
- messes
- third-person singular of mess
- messes
- plural of mess
- messing
- {i} interference, meddling; act of making dirty or untidy; eating in company; wasting time (Slang); involvement in an immoral or unethical situation (Slang)
- messing
- present participle of mess
- officer's mess
- a mess for the exclusive use of officers
- officers mess
- dining room which is intended for officers
- total mess
- great amount of disorder