mud
/mʌd/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms muds mudding mudded mudden
- noun A mixture of water and soil or fine grained sediment.
- noun A plaster-like mixture used to texture or smooth drywall.
- noun (slang, construction) Wet concrete as it is being mixed, delivered and poured.
- noun (figuratively) Willfully abusive, even slanderous remarks or claims, notably between political opponents. “The campaign issues got lost in all the mud from both parties.”
- noun (slang) Money, dough, especially when proceeding from dirty business.
- noun (LGBTQ) Stool that is exposed as a result of anal sex.
- noun (geology) A particle less than 62.5 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
- noun (slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A black person.
- verb (transitive) To make muddy or dirty; to apply mud to (something).
- verb (transitive) To make turbid.
- verb (intransitive) To go under the mud, as an eel does.
- noun (historical) A traditional Dutch unit of dry measure of variable size, frequently about 3 bushels.
- noun (historical) A traditional Dutch unit of land area, vaguely reckoned as the amount of land required to sow a mud of seed.
- noun (historical) A kind of box traditionally used in the Netherlands for measuring muds.
- verb (intransitive, Internet) To participate in a MUD or multi-user dungeon.
- proper noun (Venezuelan politics) Democratic Unity Roundtable, a coalition of opposition political parties in Venezuela.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English mud, mudde, mode, probably a borrowing from Middle Dutch mod, modde or Middle Low German mudde, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mud-, *mudra- (“mud”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mū-, *mew- (“moist”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Mudde (“mud”), Middle High German mot (“mud”), Swedish modd (“slush”). Compare also suffixed variants English mother (“vinegar-forming sediment in alcohol”), West Frisian modder (“mud”), Dutch modder (“mud”), German Low German Mudder (“mud”), German Moder (“moldiness, mildew, decay”), Danish mudder (“mud”). Alternative etymology suggests the Proto-Germanic word is possibly borrowed from a Uralic language (compare e.g. Finnish muta (“mud”), Northern Sami mođđi (“mud”), Erzya мода (moda, “earth, ground”) from Proto-Uralic *muďa (“earth”)).
From Dutch mud, from West Germanic, from Latin modius. Doublet of modius and muid.
From MUD.
Borrowed from Spanish MUD (“Mesa de la Unidad Democrática”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Earth and water mixed so as to be soft and adhesive. Mud bass (Zoöl.), a fresh-water fish (Acantharchum pomotis) of the Eastern United States. It produces a deep grunting note.
- verb To bury in mud. [R.] Shak.
- verb To make muddy or turbid. Shak.
Etymology [Akin to LG. mudde, D. modder, G. moder mold, OSw. modd mud, Sw. modder mother, Dan. mudder mud. Cf. Mother a scum on liquors.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mud”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details