Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To make messy or untidy; rumple.
- noun A state of disorder; a mess.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A scramble, as for small objects thrown down to be taken by those who can seize them.
- noun That which is to be scrambled for.
- noun A state of confusion; disorder: as, the things are all in a muss.
- noun An indiscriminate fight; a squabble; a row.
- noun A mouse: used as a term of endearment.
- To put into a state of disorder; rumple; tumble: as, to
muss one's hair. - To smear; mess.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A scramble, as when small objects are thrown down, to be taken by those who can seize them; a confused struggle.
- noun Colloq. U.S. A state of confusion or disorder; -- prob. variant of
mess , but influenced bymuss , a scramble. - noun obsolete A term of endearment.
- transitive verb Colloq. U.S. To disarrange, as clothing; to rumple; -- often used with up.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive to
rumple ,tousle or make (something)untidy - noun a
disorderly mess - noun obsolete A term of endearment.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make messy or untidy
- noun a state of confusion and disorderliness
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But Palmerston's skill in management was unavailing in this case and the "muss" (as Mason called it) was continued when Lindsay entered upon a long account of the interview with Napoleon, renewed the accusations of Russell's "revelations" to Seward and advised Roebuck not to withdraw his motion but to postpone it "until Monday."
Great Britain and the American Civil War Ephraim Douglass Adams
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Little women are notoriously pugnacious, and, as a matter of 250 copies of the "Old-fashioned Girl" have also found lodgings on the library shelves, no wonder that there was a "muss" on the premises.
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They wanted the affair given where there would be no objection to either noise or "muss," as Nat put it, so the coach house was decided upon.
Dorothy Dale's Queer Holidays Margaret Penrose
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"For one thing Fred sha'n't get into that kind of muss if I can save him from it."
The Spenders A Tale of the Third Generation Harry Leon Wilson 1903
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He still kept his chamber in a state of confusion, -- "muss," Grace called it, -- pulling the drawers out of the bureau, and scattering the contents over the floor; dropping his clothes anywhere it happened, and carrying quantities of gravel up stairs in his shoes.
Captain Horace Sophie May 1869
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With exclamations of delight the children clamored to help, or "muss"
Opening a Chestnut Burr Edward Payson Roe 1863
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"muss" the hair of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed even though he killed Americans, and yet we're allowed to shoot three Somali pirates on the high seas.
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"I just made my arrangements for that time, and I hate t 'muss 'em up.
Dawn O'Hara, the Girl Who Laughed Edna Ferber 1926
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That would be the ideal fantasy -- no suffering, no fuss, no muss, no headaches, no assembly required.
Vaishali: Self-Awareness: The Key to Owning and Operating the Human Experience Vaishali 2010
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That would be the ideal fantasy -- no suffering, no fuss, no muss, no headaches, no assembly required.
Vaishali: Self-Awareness: The Key to Owning and Operating the Human Experience Vaishali 2010
asativum commented on the word muss
Goes well with fuss and bother.
April 8, 2008