Verb. (colloquial).—To blunder badly; to come to grief; to fail.
1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, xiv. Welter has muckered ... but
worse than that, they say that Charles Marston’s classical first is
fishy.
Muckerer (or Mokerer), subs. (old).—A miser.
c. 1381. Chaucer, Boethius, Bk. ii. Auarice maketh alwaie muckerers
to be hated.
Muck-fork, subs. (common).—A hand; a finger.
Muckibus, adj. (old).—See quot. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed.
1756. Walpole, Letters, i. 498. She said in a very vulgar accent,
if she drank any more she should be muckibus. ‘Lord,’ said Lady
Mary Coke, ‘what is that?’ ‘Oh, it is Irish for sentimental!’
Muckingtogs (or Muckintogs).—A mackintosh.
1851–61. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ii. 137. With a carpet-swab and
muckingtogs.
Muckrake, subs. (American).—See quot.
1871. De Vere, Americanisms, s.v. Muckrakes, a slang term in
politics for persons who ‘fish in troubled waters,’ from the idea
of their raking up the muck to see what valuable waifs and strays
they may find in it. The term is generally used in the form of
muckrakes and placemongers.
Mucks. See mux.
Muck-snipe, subs. (common).—A ruined gambler. Cf. Muck, verb., sense 2.
1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, i. 279. I was a
muck-snipe when I was there—why, a muck-snipe, sir, is a man
regularly done up, coopered, and humped altogether.
Muck-train, subs. (military).—A commissariat train.
Muck-worm, subs. (old).—A miser; [Cf. Muck = money]. Also an upstart.
1665. Howard, The Committee, ii. Come, pr’y thee let’s go; these
muckworms will have earth enough to stop their mouths with one day.
1670. J. Eachard, Contempt of the Clergy [Arber, Garner, Vol. vii.
p. 298]. It is a great hazard if he be not counted a caterpillar! a
muckworm! a very earthly minded man!
1695. Congreve, Love for Love, ii. 1. ’Oons, whose son are you? how
were you engendered, muckworm?
1748. Thomson, Castle of Indolence, i. 50. Here you a muckworm of
the town might see.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1795. R. Cumberland, The Jew, i. Here comes one that supersedes all
other visitors—old Sheva, the rich Jew, the merest muck-worm in the
city of London.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
1895. H. B. Marriott-Watson, in New Review, July, p. 7. ‘You
muckworm, you——I’ll slit your gizzard, you——.’
Mud, subs. (old).—1. See quots. For synonyms see Buffle and
Cabbage-head.
1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 13. Mud, a Fool, or
Thick-scull Fellow.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Mud(s) ... also a dull,
heavy-headed fellow is called a mud.
1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Mud—a stupid twaddling fellow. ‘And his
name is mud!’ ejaculated upon the conclusion of a silly oration, or
of a leader in the Courier.
1836. W. H. Smith, The Individual, ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ There is
a nook in the boozing-ken, Where many a mud I fog.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.