mess

and no messing (British, informal)

without any difficulties. She did the entire job in under an hour and no messing.

a mess of something (American, informal)

a lot of something. He picked up a mess of keys and handed me one.

no messing (British, informal)

something that you say which means you have done something in a very complete way. 'I ordered a glass of white wine but I see Ian's brought a whole bottle.' 'Yeah, no messing.'

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make a mess of something

1. to spoil something or do it very badly. Our bank seems to have made a mess of our loan documents.

2. to cause a lot of damage to a place. Violent storms are making a mess of the Midwest.

mess around

to waste time doing something without a particular purpose. The kids were just messing around at the mall.

Usage notes: often used in the not mess around to act with a serious purpose: Being a federal agent on the track of terrorists, Matt doesn't mess around.

See also: around

mess around with someone

1. to have sex with someone other than your husband, wife, or usual sexual partner. She found out that her husband was messing around with her best friend.

2. to treat someone badly. He was always messing around with her, and she was right to leave him.

See also: around

mess around with something

to amuse yourself by doing or saying something that is likely to cause trouble. I don't know if I'm dealing with a 14-year-old messing around with a computer or if I'm dealing with organized crime.

See also: around

a mess of something

a lot of something. The fridge door is a mess of notes, schedules, and magnets. The practice field was a mess of weeds and dirt.

mess someone up

to cause someone emotional problems. I don't want to mess her up any more than she already is, I decided to leave her alone. He's so messed up. Having just one parent has been known to mess up a kid.

mess something up

1. to break, damage, or spoil something. She worries that X-rays could mess up her laptop's hard drive. I messed up my ankle playing touch football. Most of kids at the party were well behaved, but there's always a few who mess things up.

2. to do something badly or make mistakes. I really messed up my chemistry exam. We had a chance to win the game, but we messed it up.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the form mess up on something: I messed up on my driving test.

mess with someone

to annoy, worry, or cause problems for someone. I'm tired of people messing with me and not telling me the truth.

Usage notes: often used with not: You don't want to mess with this guy.

fool with someone

mess with something

1. to take apart or fix something complicated esp. in order to learn more about how it works. I enjoy messing with computers the way some folks get pleasure from rebuilding old cars.

2. to change something in a way that is likely to cause harm. Crime really messes with the quality of life in a community. Don't mess with funding for education programs that have a direct impact on student learning.

3. to become involved with something dangerous. He admitted that he had messed with drugs as a teen. You wouldn't want to mess with a truckload of mail that might be contaminated.

fool with something

fiddle with something

fuss with something