mess (original) (raw)
mess noun (DIRT)
clean up a mess Go and clean up that mess in the kitchen.
UK Freddy can't stand mess.
look a mess mainly UK I look a mess - I can't go out like this!
My hair's such a mess today!
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
mess noun (PROBLEMS)
She said that her life was a mess.
get yourself into a mess I got myself into a mess by telling a lie.
More examplesFewer examples
- I hope something good can come out of this mess.
- Their relationship is a mess.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
mess noun (ROOM)
[ C ] (US also mess hall)
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
[ T ] mainly US informal (UK mess up)
to make something untidy:
Idioms
Phrasal verbs
(Definition of mess from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
Examples of mess
mess
Contrary to claims from some corners that theropod phylogeny is a mess, this work highlights the fact that a consensus has emerged.
A waiter accidentally drops a stack of dishes and thereby creates a mess.
Or to put it the other way round, 'respect the classics, they should not be messed around with, attempts to interpret are out of order'.
Others consciously reordered the client as a baby - sweet, innocent of intent in making a mess, and vulnerable.
Then came a similar mess for the four officers, that is, the three mates and second engineer.
She would not sleep at night, waking up at all hours, playing and making a mess.
They didn't know how to make a mess.
The question is clear: does this become a mess, or do we get something nice out of it?
A second and stronger point is that history is a mess.
Morning, noon and night we get one mess tin of sloppy rice-work every night-the whole night through.
But all these people have other problems - they have suffered strokes, or take drugs that mess with their sleep and/or dreams.
There is drug selling on the corners and the people on the corners mess with the kids.
With the application of ultraviolet light, the epoxy cures to its fully hardened state with no mixing or additional mess.
It was they who had to decide whether to join in with weaving rather than wipe up the mess.
The kitchen and mess room are contained within a single elevated building.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
Collocations with mess
These are words often used in combination with mess.
Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.
The place is a hub of activity during the day, and it has made an absolute mess of the plan.
We think that he is a rather kind and inadequate man who made an awful mess of things at a crucial moment.
The proposal will create a bureaucratic mess of unparalleled proportions, by creating two bodies responsible for the administration of one benefit rather than one.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.