Library / English Dictionary

MESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax

Synonyms:

mess; mess hall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mess" is a kind of...):

dining-room; dining room (a room used for dining)

Meronyms (parts of "mess"):

training table (planned meals for athletes in training (usually served in a mess hall))

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mess"):

officer's mess (a mess for the exclusive use of officers)

Derivation:

mess (eat in a mess hall)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A meal eaten in a mess hall by service personnel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("mess" is a kind of...):

meal; repast (the food served and eaten at one time)

Derivation:

mess (eat in a mess hall)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Soft semiliquid food

Example:

a mess of porridge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("mess" is a kind of...):

aliment; alimentation; nourishment; nutriment; nutrition; sustenance; victuals (a source of materials to nourish the body)

Derivation:

mess (eat in a mess hall)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent

Example:

a wad of money

Synonyms:

batch; deal; flock; good deal; great deal; hatful; heap; lot; mass; mess; mickle; mint; mountain; muckle; passel; peck; pile; plenty; pot; quite a little; raft; sight; slew; spate; stack; tidy sum; wad

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("mess" is a kind of...):

large indefinite amount; large indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mess"):

deluge; flood; inundation; torrent (an overwhelming number or amount)

haymow (a mass of hay piled up in a barn for preservation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Informal terms for a difficult situation

Example:

he made a muddle of his marriage

Synonyms:

fix; hole; jam; kettle of fish; mess; muddle; pickle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("mess" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mess"):

dog's breakfast; dog's dinner (a poor job; a mess)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A state of confusion and disorderliness

Example:

she smoothed the mussiness of the bed

Synonyms:

mess; messiness; muss; mussiness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("mess" is a kind of...):

disorder; disorderliness (a condition in which things are not in their expected places)

Derivation:

mess (make a mess of or create disorder in)

messy (dirty and disorderly)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a mess of or create disorder in

Example:

He messed up his room

Synonyms:

mess; mess up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "mess" is one way to...):

disarray; disorder (bring disorder to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

mess (a state of confusion and disorderliness)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Eat in a mess hall

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "mess" is one way to...):

eat (eat a meal; take a meal)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue mess

Derivation:

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

mess (a meal eaten in a mess hall by service personnel)

mess (soft semiliquid food)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“You’ve done it now, Watson,” said he, coolly. “A pretty mess you’ve made of the carpet.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She could see him instantly before her, in every charm of air and address; but she could remember no more substantial good than the general approbation of the neighbourhood, and the regard which his social powers had gained him in the mess.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Last month, Mars’ little brother Mercury was retrograde, messing things up like Wrecker Ralph, but this month, you will have an open road, without any of the frustrating delays and aggravations you experienced in November.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I did after a while, not to 'mess' but to learn of Hannah how things should be done, that my servants need not laugh at me.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And if you make a mess of it, it will be the last you ever make.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I found the mess to consist of indifferent potatoes and strange shreds of rusty meat, mixed and cooked together.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He ventured the petty officers' mess, and was glad to get away.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"Why didn't you go into the kitchen and make messes, as Sallie says she does to amuse herself, though they never turn out well and the servants laugh at her," said Meg.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A pretty mess that ’Frisco whisky got me into, an’ a prettier mess that woman’s got you into aft there.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"We're tolerable, sir, I thank you," replied Grace, lifting the boiling mess carefully on to the hob: "rather snappish, but not 'rageous."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)