mess
noun
[ mɛs ]
• a dirty or untidy state of things or of a place.
• "she made a mess of the kitchen"
Similar:
untidiness,
disorder,
disarray,
clutter,
heap,
shambles,
litter,
tangle,
jumble,
muddle,
mishmash,
chaos,
confusion,
disorganization,
turmoil,
muck,
fright,
sight,
dog's dinner/breakfast,
tip,
• a situation that is confused and full of problems.
• "the economy is still in a terrible mess"
Similar:
plight,
predicament,
emergency,
tight spot,
tight corner,
difficulty,
straits,
trouble,
quandary,
dilemma,
problem,
muddle,
mix-up,
confusion,
complication,
imbroglio,
entanglement,
mire,
jam,
fix,
pickle,
stew,
hot water,
hole,
pretty/fine kettle of fish,
scrape,
botch,
bungle,
wreck,
hash,
muck,
foul-up,
screw-up,
cock-up,
shambles,
omnishambles,
car crash,
snafu,
fuck-up,
balls-up,
• a portion of semi-liquid food.
• "a mess of mashed black beans and rice"
• a building or room providing meals and recreational facilities for members of the armed forces.
• "the sergeants' mess"
• a large amount or quantity of.
• "big-time outfits that do a mess of printing"
mess
verb
• make untidy or dirty.
• "she scratched her head, messing her hair still further"
Similar:
dirty,
befoul,
litter,
besmirch,
pollute,
clutter up,
disarrange,
jumble,
throw into disorder/confusion,
muss,
dishevel,
rumple,
tumble,
• have one's meals with a particular person, especially as a member of an armed forces' mess.
• "I messed at first with Harry, who became a lifelong friend"
Origin:
Middle English: from Old French mes ‘portion of food’, from late Latin missum ‘something put on the table’, past participle of mittere ‘send, put’. The original sense was ‘a serving of (semi-liquid) food’, later ‘liquid food for an animal’; this gave rise (early 19th century) to the senses ‘unappetizing concoction’ and ‘predicament’, on which sense 1 is based. In late Middle English the term also denoted any of the small groups into which the company at a banquet was divided (who were served from the same dishes); hence, ‘a group who regularly eat together’ (recorded in military use from the mid 16th century).
