mix up

mix up

1. verb To confuse one thing for another. I'm sorry I'm late, I must have mixed up the time for our meeting.

2. verb To combine various substances by stirring. Have you mixed up the eggs and the sugar yet?

3. verb To cause something to become jumbled or disorganized. My intern must have mixed up these papers—they're all out of order.

4. verb To increase the sound of one component in an audio file, such as a song. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "mix" and "up." I can barely hear the drums—can you mix them up?

5. noun A situation in which a mistake has been made, especially when one thing is confused for or erroneously swapped with another. As a noun, the phrase is usually hyphenated. OK, here are your car keys. Sorry about the mix-up.

See also: mix, up

mixed up

1. Confused. I'm sorry I'm late, I must have gotten mixed up about the time for our meeting.

2. Of various substances, completely combined, typically by having been stirred together. Don't add the cream until the eggs and sugar are completely mixed up.

3. Jumbled or disorganized. My intern must have filed these incorrectly—they're all mixed up. The keys are all mixed up in that drawer. You'll have to sort them.

4. Of multiple things, having been confused for or erroneously swapped with each other. How did our car keys get mixed up? Did we put them on the same tray?

5. Involved or implicated in something negative or troublesome. Don't get mixed up with a dangerous crowd like that. I got mixed up in drugs during college, and it took me a long time to get clean.

6. slang Drunk. Do you remember last night at the bar at all? You were really mixed up!

See also: mixed, up

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

mix it up (with someone)

to fight with someone; to quarrel with someone. Wilbur and Walt mixed it up for a while, and then things calmed down. Richard came out of the shop and began to mix it up with Walt.

See also: mix, up

mix someone up

to confuse someone. Please don't ask questions now; you'll mix me up! You mixed up the speaker with your question.

See also: mix, up

mix something up

 (with something)

1. to mix or stir something using a mixing or stirring device. He mixed the batter up with a spoon. First, mix up the batter.

2. to combine substances and mix them together. Please mix the egg up with the sugar first. Please mix up the egg with the sugar.

See also: mix, up

mix something up

to bring something into disorder; to throw something into a state of confusion. Don't mix up the papers on my desk. He mixes up things in his eagerness to speak.

See also: mix, up

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

mix it up

Get in a fight, as in The driver got out and began to mix it up with the other driver. This expression uses mix in referring to physical mingling. [c. 1900]

See also: mix, up

mix up

1. Confuse, confound, as in His explanation just mixed me up even more, or I always mix up the twins. [c. 1800]

2. Involve or implicate. This usage is usually put in the passive, as in He got mixed up with the wrong crowd. [Mid-1800s]

See also: mix, up

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mix up

v.

1. To cause the elements of something to be intermingled: Mix up the eggs and sugar before you pour them into the flour. Mix the batter up thoroughly before pouring it into the pan.

2. To prepare something by mixing: I mixed some eggs up for breakfast. I mixed up a cake for her birthday.

3. To confuse someone; confound someone: His explanation just mixed me up more. The confusing directions mixed up all the party guests.

4. To mistake something or someone for something or someone else: I always mix up the twins. I mixed the twins up because they were wearing the same thing.

5. To involve or implicate someone in the activities of someone or something, especially something negative: Don't mix yourself up with that crowd. She mixed him up in the whole mess. He got mixed up with the wrong people.

6. To increase the volume of some component of an electrical or audio signal relative to other components: Your singing sounds too quiet—we should mix it up. Mix up the microphones when the announcer begins speaking.

See also: mix, up

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mix it up

verb

See mix it up with someone

See also: mix, up

mixed (up)

1. mod. confused; mentally troubled. (This is hyphenated before a nominal.) I was a little mixed up after the accident.

2. mod. alcohol intoxicated. I’m just a little mixed-up, nothing serious. No reason you should be swaying around like that.

See also: mixed, up

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

mix it up

Slang

To fight.

See also: mix, up

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.