Mud

[muhd] /mʌd/

noun
1.
wet, soft earth or earthy matter, as on the ground after rain, at the bottom of a pond, or along the banks of a river; mire.
2.
Informal. scandalous or malicious assertions or information:
The opposition threw a lot of mud at our candidate.
3.
Slang. brewed coffee, especially when strong or bitter.
4.
a mixture of chemicals and other substances pumped into a drilling rig chiefly as a lubricant for the bit and shaft.
verb (used with object), mudded, mudding.
5.
to cover, smear, or spatter with mud:
to mud the walls of a hut.
6.
to stir up the mud or sediment in:
waders mudding the clear water.
verb (used without object), mudded, mudding.
7.
to hide in or burrow into mud.
/mʌd/
noun
1.
a fine-grained soft wet deposit that occurs on the ground after rain, at the bottom of ponds, lakes, etc
2.
(informal) slander or defamation
3.
(informal) clear as mud, not at all clear
4.
drag someone’s name in the mud, to disgrace or defame someone
5.
(informal) here’s mud in your eye, a humorous drinking toast
6.
(informal) someone’s name is mud, someone is disgraced
7.
(informal) throw mud at, sling mud at, to slander; vilify
verb muds, mudding, mudded
8.
(transitive) to soil or cover with mud
n.

mid-14c., cognate with and probably from Middle Low German mudde, Middle Dutch modde “thick mud,” from Proto-Germanic *mud- from PIE *(s)meu-/*mu- [Buck], found in many words denoting “wet” or “dirty” (cf. Greek mydos “damp, moisture,” Old Irish muad “cloud,” Polish muł “slime,” Sanskrit mutra- “urine,” Avestan muthra- “excrement, filth”); related to German Schmutz “dirt,” which also is used for “mud” in roads, etc., to avoid dreck, which originally meant “excrement.” Welsh mwd is from English. Replaced native fen.

Meaning “lowest or worst of anything” is from 1580s. As a word for “coffee,” it is hobo slang from 1925; as a word for “opium” from 1922. To throw or hurl mud “make disgraceful accusations” is from 1762. To say (one’s) name is mud and mean “(one) is discredited” is first recorded 1823, from mud in obsolete sense of “a stupid twaddling fellow” (1708). Mud in your eye as a toast recorded from 1912, American English. Mud puppy “salamander” is from 1889, American English; mud bath is from 1798; mud pie is from 1788.

noun

Related Terms

someone’s name is mud, stick in the mud

games
Multi-User Dimension or “Multi-User Domain”. Originally “Multi-User Dungeon”.
[Jargon File]
(1995-04-16)
1.
multiuser dimension
2.
multiuser domain
3.
multiuser dungeon
see: