Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To mix together, especially confusedly.
- intransitive verb To mix (a drink or the ingredients of a drink), especially with a muddler.
- intransitive verb To put into a state of confusion; confuse.
- intransitive verb To confuse or befuddle (a person or the mind, for example). synonym: befuddle.
- intransitive verb To mismanage or bungle.
- intransitive verb To make turbid or muddy.
- intransitive verb To think, act, or proceed in a confused or aimless manner.
- noun A disordered condition; a mess or jumble.
- noun A state of mental confusion.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A mess; dirty confusion; filth.
- noun Intellectual confusion; cloudiness; bewilderment.
- noun A kind of chowder; a pottle made with crackers. See
pottle , 2. - To make foul, turbid, or muddy, as water.
- To bewilder; perplex.
- To intoxicate partially; cloud or stupefy, particularly with liquor: as, to
muddle one's brains. - To spend profitlessly; waste; misuse; fritter: usually with away.
- To bring into a state of confusion; make a mess of.
- To mix; stir: as, to
muddle chocolate or drinks. - To contract filth; become muddy or foul.
- To become confused, especially from drink.
- To potter about; wander confusedly.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To dabble in mud.
- intransitive verb To think and act in a confused, aimless way.
- transitive verb obsolete To make turbid, or muddy, as water.
- transitive verb To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.
- transitive verb rare To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated.
- transitive verb To mix confusedly; to confuse; to make a mess of; ; also, to perplex; to mystify.
- noun A state of being turbid or confused; hence, intellectual cloudiness or dullness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
mix together, tomix up ; toconfuse . - verb To
mash slightly for use in acocktail . - noun A
mixture ; aconfusion ; agarble .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make into a puddle
- noun a confused multitude of things
- noun informal terms for a difficult situation
- verb mix up or confuse
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Behind stone walls dripping with clematis, a crabapple's toss away from what he called a "muddle" of windblown daisies, beneath the dappled shade of a weeping beech tree, a ruddy-cheeked Englishman, dressed in a gently rumpled olive suit, sat with a sketch pad spread across his lap.
The Seattle Times 2011
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The policy muddle is mirrored by the tactical failures.
Nick Mills: Obama's Wars Nick Mills 2010
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The policy muddle is mirrored by the tactical failures.
Nick Mills: Obama's Wars Nick Mills 2010
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A muddle is a bar tool that allows you to crush ingredients together at the bottom of a glass, releasing lots of flavor into a drink.
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A muddle is a bar tool that allows you to crush ingredients together at the bottom of a glass, releasing lots of flavor into a drink.
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More perplexing to me is the entire copyright muddle, which is a train wreck here in the US, where everyone watches everyone and my cat's walk across the keyboard is copyrighted.
Recycling characters from the past Michael Allen 2005
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Now the problem is that if you don't know what you're doing, you'll end up in a bit of a muddle, which is why I've come here, because anyone who is anyone in the technology industry at some point comes here, where all the big technology trade shows and conventions are held.
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Now I want you to do me another favour, in spite of this stupid muddle, which is probably all my fault.
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Now I want you to do me another favour, in spite of this stupid muddle, which is probably all my fault.
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If our victory has thrown any politician into a muddle, that is not our concern.
Why North Carolina Voted Dry Frances Renfrow Doak 1934
oroboros commented on the word muddle
If an eagle sees a bagel
And the bagel's on a platter
And the eater of the bagel has his tea poured by a hatter
While the bird devours the doughnut,
It's a swooping bagel eagle.
If the eater is a model
And the bagel eagle swoopeth,
But the model fights the eagle,
That's a bagel eagle model battle.
And if the model models girdles,
And the model's own pet poodle
Is too frightened by the battle
And piddles on the pavement
And the piddle forms a puddle
Which the fighters then splash over,
That's a bagel eagle girdle model poodle piddle puddle battle.
BUT if a new law student's beagle
With a pasta serving scooper
Legislates over the battle,
That's a bagel eagle girdle model poodle piddle puddle battle's latent legal beagle noodle ladle MUDDLE
(Thanks to wertperch at everything2.com)
August 18, 2007
Prolagus commented on the word muddle
Song quotation on cuddle.
September 18, 2008
gangerh commented on the word muddle
I heard somewhere recently that life's a muddle.
May 12, 2009
gangerh commented on the word muddle
And I didn't know 'til today that one definition of muddle is 'to make a puddle'. I like that.
"Everything's in a bit of a muddle today."
May 12, 2009