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  1. bungle love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To work or act ineptly or inefficiently.
  2. v. To handle badly; botch. See Synonyms at botch.
  3. n. A clumsy or inept performance; a botch: made a bungle of the case due to inexperience.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To work or act in a clumsy, awkward, or blundering manner.
  2. To make or mend clumsily; botch; manage awkwardly or blunderingly; perform inefficiently.
  3. n. A clumsy performance; a piece of awkward work; a botch.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A botched or incompetently handled situation.
  2. v. To botch up, bumble or incompetently perform a task.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To act or work in a clumsy, awkward manner.
  2. v. To make or mend clumsily; to manage awkwardly; to botch; -- sometimes with up.
  3. n. A clumsy or awkward performance; a botch; a gross blunder.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. make a mess of, destroy or ruin
  2. v. spoil by behaving clumsily or foolishly
  3. n. an embarrassing mistake

Etymologies

  1. From Old Norse, akin to Swedish dialect bangla 'to work ineffectually', from Old Swedish bunga 'to strike'. Compare German Bengel 'cudgel; rude fellow', Middle High German bungen 'to hammer'. (Wiktionary)
  2. Perhaps of Scandinavian origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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‘bungle’ has been looked up 2319 times, loved by 7 people, added to 39 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 9.