mess:Idioms & Phrases - Meaning, Definition, Usage

verb be about
loaf; footle; lallygag; linger; lollygag; lurk; tarry; mill about; hang around; lounge; loiter; mill around.
- The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square
- Who is this man that is hanging around the department?

verb do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly
monkey around; monkey; putter; potter; tinker; muck around; muck about.
- The old lady is usually mucking about in her little house

noun a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax
mess.

noun waist-length jacket tapering to a point at the back; worn by officers in the mess for formal dinners
monkey jacket; shell jacket.

noun kit containing a metal dish and eating utensils; used by soldiers and campers

noun anything of trivial value
- Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage

verb make a mess of, destroy or ruin
muck up; foul up; blow; botch up; botch; bollix; fumble; mishandle; bollocks; bumble; ball up; bobble; bollocks up; spoil; bollix up; fuck up; fluff; flub; bodge; muff; louse up; screw up; bungle.
- I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
- the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement
verb disturb the smoothness of
ruffle up; ruffle; rumple.
- ruffle the surface of the water
verb make a mess of or create disorder in
mess.
- He messed up his room

mess : Idioms & Phrases