muddle
English
Etymology
From Middle Dutch moddelen (“to make muddy”), from modde, mod (“mud”) (Modern Dutch modder). Compare German Kuddelmuddel.
Pronunciation
Verb
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- To mix together, to mix up; to confuse.
- Young children tend to muddle their words.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of F. W. Newman to this entry?)
- To mash slightly for use in a cocktail.
- He muddled the mint sprigs in the bottom of the glass.
- To dabble in mud.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Jonathan Swift to this entry?)
- To make turbid or muddy.
- L'Estrange (Can we date this quote?)
- He did ill to muddle the water.
- L'Estrange (Can we date this quote?)
- To think and act in a confused, aimless way.
- To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.
- To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated.
- Hazlitt (Can we date this quote?)
- They muddle it [money] away without method or object, and without having anything to show for it.
- Hazlitt (Can we date this quote?)
Derived terms
Derived terms
Translations
mix together, to mix up; to confuse
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mash for a cocktail
Noun
muddle (plural muddles)
- A mixture; a confusion; a garble.
- The muddle of nervous speech he uttered did not have much meaning.
- (cooking and cocktails) A mixture of crushed ingredients, as prepared with a muddler.
Translations
a mixture; a confusion; a garble
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Derived terms
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ʌdəl
- English terms with usage examples
- Requests for quotations/F. W. Newman
- Requests for quotations/Jonathan Swift
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Cooking
- en:Drinking