Definition: mess
mess
n 1: a state of confusion and disorderliness; "the house was a
mess"; "she smoothed the mussiness of the bed" [syn: messiness,
muss, mussiness]
2: informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a
terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage" [syn: fix,
hole, jam, muddle, pickle, kettle of fish]
3: soft semiliquid food; "a mess of porridge"
4: a meal eaten by service personnel
5: a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat
or relax [syn: mess hall]
6: (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent:
"a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of
money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "it must
have cost plenty" [syn: batch, deal, flock, good
deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mickle,
mint, muckle, peck, pile, plenty, pot, quite
a little, raft, sight, slew, spate, stack, tidy
sum, wad, whole lot, whole slew]
v 1: eat in a mess; in the military
2: make a mess of or create disorder in; "He messed up his
room" [syn: mess up]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Mess \Mess\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Messed; p. pr. & vb. n. Messing.] To take meals with a mess; to belong to a mess; to eat (with others); as, I mess with the wardroom officers. --Marryat.
Mess \Mess\, v. t. To supply with a mess.
Mess \Mess\, n. Mass; church service. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Mess \Mess\, n. [OE. mes, OF. mets, LL. missum, p. p. of mittere to put, place (e. g., on the table), L. mittere to send. See Mission, and cf. Mass religious service.] 1. A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; as, a mess of pottage; also, the food given to a beast at one time. At their savory dinner set Of herbs and other country messes. --Milton. 2. A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common; especially, persons in the military or naval service who eat at the same table; as, the wardroom mess. --Shak. 3. A set of four; -- from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner. [Obs.] --Latimer. 4. The milk given by a cow at one milking. [U.S.] 5. [Perh. corrupt. fr. OE. mesh for mash: cf. muss.] A disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a situation resulting from blundering or from misunderstanding; as, he made a mess of it. [Colloq.]
Mess \Mess\, v. t.
To make a mess of; to disorder or muddle; to muss; to jumble;
to disturb.
It was n't right either to be messing another man's
sleep. --Scribner's
Mag.
Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Mess a portion of food given to a guest (Gen. 43:34; 2 Sam. 11:8).
