muck (redirected from muck out)

(lord) high muck-a-muck

Rur. a very important person. (Humorous.) Jim's acting like he's some kind of lord high muck-a-muck. What's gotten into him? Mary got a promotion, so now she's a real high muck-a-muck.

See also: high

muck something up

to ruin something. I should never have trusted Jim with the repair work. He was bound to muck it up. I asked her to take over for me while I was gone, and she really mucked it up. She mucked up the whole deal.

See also: up

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as common as muck  (British & Australian informal)

an impolite way of describing someone who is from a low social class You can tell from the way she talks she's as common as muck.

See also: common

Lady Muck  (British & Australian humorous)

a woman who thinks she is very important and should be treated better than everyone else Look at Lady Muck over there, expecting everyone to wait on her!

See also: lady

muck-raking  (informal)

the activity of trying to discover unpleasant information about people so that you can tell the public These reports are nothing but muck-raking - journalists should not be allowed to investigate ministers' private business dealings.

treat somebody like muck  (informal)

to treat someone without respect or kindness Mick treats his girlfriend like muck, but she's crazy about him.

See handle with kid gloves, work a treat

See also: like, treat

Where there's muck, there's brass.  (British)

something that you say which means you can make a lot of money from work that most people do not want to do because they think it is dirty or unpleasant Decorating's a messy job, but where there's muck, there's brass.

See treat like muck

See also: brass

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muck something up also muck up something

to make a situation more confusing or difficult Our leaders have demonstrated their great talent for mucking things up. Don't muck up our lives just because he was misbehaving.

Related vocabulary: muddy the waters

See also: up

muck around (with something)

to do something without a serious purpose Why was she mucking around in such a risky neighborhood? I kept working on this text until I thought it was good, and then I tried not to muck around with it anymore.

See also: around