muck

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(as) happy as a pig in muck

Very joyful and contented. Primarily heard in UK. Look at your sister out there on the field! She's happy as a pig in muck now that she's back in the team's starting lineup again. I know I'll be as happy as a pig in muck once I get this stupid cast off my leg. I'm home from that work trip and happy as a pig in muck. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight!

as common as muck

Low-class. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Considering she's wearing an outfit like that in public, she must be as common as muck. Are you as common as muck? Quit hooting and hollering like that! Wait, they live in that ramshackle old place? Ha! I always had a feeling they were secretly as common as muck.

grovel in (something)

1. To interact with someone in an overtly agreeable or deferential manner, usually with a particular aim (indicated after "in"). Well, if your mother's mad at me, I guess I'm going to have to grovel in apology—we want this family dinner to be pleasant, after all. If it would save my life, I would certainly grovel in pleas of devotion to the royal family! I don't care how impressive their résumé is—I refuse to grovel in concessions to any potential employee!

2. To show one's respect or deference by lying down on the ground in some specific substance. I won't grovel in filth for anyone! Come on, stop groveling in the dirt. Have a little more self-respect than that. She's not my queen, and I refuse to grovel about in the snow for some pretender!

high muckamuck

slang An especially important, influential, and authoritative person, especially someone who is overbearingly or arrogantly so. (Sometimes shortened to simply "muckamuck.") "All hail the high muckamuck," Jerry muttered under his breath as the dictator's motorcade rolled by. We're just waiting for the high muckamuck to give us the green light before we get the project started. Great, another stupid decision we can't question because it came from the high muckamuck.

high muckety muck

slang An especially important, influential, and authoritative person, especially someone who is overbearingly or arrogantly so. We're just waiting for the high muckety muck to give us the green light before we get the project started. "All hail the high muckety muck," Jerry muttered under his breath as the dictator's motorcade rolled by. Great, another stupid decision we can't question because it came from the high muckety muck.

high mucky-muck

slang An especially important, influential, and authoritative person, especially someone who is overbearingly or arrogantly so. We're just waiting for the high mucky-muck to give us the green light before we get the project started. "All hail the high mucky-muck," Jerry muttered under his breath as the dictator's motorcade rolled by. Great, another stupid decision we can't question because it came from the high mucky-muck.

Lady Muck

An average or ordinary woman who has pretentions of being more important or of a higher class than those around her. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Here comes Lady Muck again, swanning in like the Queen of England, expecting everyone to stop what they're doing just for her.

Lord Muck

An average or ordinary man who has pretentions of being more important or of a higher class than those around him. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Here comes Lord Muck again, swanning in like the King of England, expecting everyone to stop what they're doing just for him.

make a muck of (something)

To ruin, bungle, or spoil something. Primarily heard in UK. I really made a muck of that project at work—I'm going to get fired for sure! I'm afraid the accounting department made a complete muck of these numbers. We'll need to tally the entire ledger again.

muck about

1. To be idle or do something without much purpose. Quit mucking about and help me take out the trash! What are you doing mucking about with those knuckleheads? You're going to get into trouble.

2. To meddle, interfere, or fiddle (with something), especially in a careless or thoughtless manner. Please don't muck about with the thermostat, I have it set exactly the way I want it. I've been mucking about with the melody but haven't been able to get it quite right.

3. To say or do something in a playful, jocular manner. There's a group of boys who always spend the whole class mucking about. Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was only mucking about!

4. To treat someone poorly or carelessly, especially in a deceptive or misleading manner. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "muck" and "about." Their customer service team has been mucking me about for the last few days about this issue. You can't muck about your employees like that. They deserve to know

muck around

1. To be idle or do something without much purpose. Quit mucking around and help me take out the trash! After the stressful week that I had, I'm looking forward to just mucking around the house for the weekend. What are you doing mucking around with those knuckleheads? You're going to get into trouble.

2. To meddle, interfere, or tweak, often in an uncareful or casual way. Please don't muck around with the thermostat, I have it set exactly the way I want it. I've been mucking around with the melody but haven't been able to get it quite right.

muck in

To join in with others to contribute, help, or assist; to pitch in. The only way we're going to get this done on time is if everyone mucks in and gives it their all. The whole town is mucking in to get the new community center up and running.

muck out

To clean the place where an animal lives or is kept, especially by removing excrement, soiled materials, food waste, etc. A noun or pronoun can be used between "muck" and "out." I was given the unenviable task of mucking out the horses' stables when I spent the summer on the ranch. The pigpen gets absolutely putrid if you don't muck it out every day.

muck up

To ruin or mess something up. A noun or pronoun can be used between "muck" and "up." Boy, you really mucked up this report, and I don't have time to fix it right now.

See also: muck, up

muckety muck

slang An especially important, influential, and authoritative person, especially someone who is overbearingly or arrogantly so. Sometimes hyphenated. We're just waiting for the muckety mucks in upper management to give us the green light before we get the project started. "All hail the muckety-muck," Jerry muttered under his breath as the CEO walked by.

muck-raking

1. adjective Characterized by trying to find out unpleasant information about someone, so as to damage their public reputation. Used before a noun. I think your "newspaper" is just gossipy trash written by muck-raking vultures.

2. noun The act of gathering such information. I hate the muck-raking that goes on ad nauseum during an election season.

treat (one) like muck

To treat one as if they were worthless; to treat one with contempt or with utter disrespect. I'm tired of you treating me like muck, like I don't matter. I went to that store to buy a dress but they treated me like muck just because I wasn't already wearing expensive clothes.

where there's muck, there's brass

proverb There is profit to be made from the jobs that other people think are unpleasant and do not want to do. I started a portable toilet business because I knew that where there's muck, there's brass.

(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.

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: muck, up

muck up

Bungle, damage, make a mess of, as in Don't let him write the review; he's sure to muck it up. This idiom alludes to the verb muck in the sense of "spread manure on." [Early 1900s] For a synonym, see foul up.

See also: muck, 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.

common as muck

BRITISH, OFFENSIVE

If you say that someone is as common as muck, you mean that they are lower-class and not sophisticated. Leary guessed correctly that his guests were as common as muck and planned the menu accordingly.

happy as a pig in muck

BRITISH, INFORMAL

If you are happy as a pig in muck, you are very happy. From day one I adored it. I was as happy as a pig in muck. Note: This expression has several variations. For example, some people talk about being happy as a pig in shit. I'd much rather be as I am, I couldn't imagine being any different. Happy as a pig in shit. Frankly, I was like a pig in shit — oh, how I revelled in the opportunity of standing next to famous people!

Lady Muck

a haughty or socially pretentious woman. British informal

as common as muck

of low social status. British informal

make a muck of

handle incompetently; bungle. British informal

where there's muck there's brass

dirty or unpleasant activities are also lucrative. proverb

where there’s ˌmuck there’s ˈbrass

(British English, saying) used to say that somebody has made a lot of money from an unpleasant or a dirty business activity: When they saw his enormous house and flash car they looked at each other, both thinking ‘Where there’s muck there’s brass.’

Muck is dirt or mud. Brass is an old-fashioned word for ‘money’.

muck around

or muck about

To spend time idly; putter: We spent our summer afternoons mucking around in the fields and ponds. I stayed home and mucked around all day.

muck up

v. Slang

1. To make something dirty or contaminated, especially with mud, grime, or a similar substance: Don't step in that puddle; you'll muck up your shoes. The gears in the car's transmission were all mucked up.

2. To make some liquid unclear or unusable by stirring up elements settled on the bottom: Unfortunately, all the dredging in the river has mucked up the water so much that we can't go swimming. The rains mucked the water up, making it difficult for scuba divers to see.

3. To make something unusable by disrupting what should remain undisturbed: I tried to incorporate these ideas into my paper at the last minute, but all they did was to muck it up. The editor stopped the author from mucking up the book with needless revisions.

See also: muck, up

high mucky-muck

(...ˈməkimək)

n. an important person; the person in charge. When the high mucky-mucks meet, they will decide what to do about the problem.

muck something up

tv. to mess something up; to ruin something. Try not to muck it up this time.