Mud (?), n. [Akin to LG. mudde, D. modder, G. moder mold, OSw. modd
mud, Sw. modder mother, Dan. mudder mud. Cf. Mother a scum on liquors.]
Earth and water mixed so as to be soft and adhesive.
Mud bass (Zoöl.), a fresh-water fish (Acantharchum pomotis) of the
Eastern United States. It produces a deep grunting note. -- Mud bath,
an immersion of the body, or some part of it, in mud charged with
medicinal agents, as a remedy for disease. -- Mud boat, a large
flatboat used in dredging. -- Mud cat. See Catfish. -- Mud crab
(Zoöl.), any one of several American marine crabs of the genus
Panopeus. -- Mud dab (Zoöl.), the winter flounder. See Flounder, and
Dab. -- Mud dauber (Zoöl.), a mud wasp. -- Mud devil (Zoöl.), the
fellbender. -- Mud drum (Steam Boilers), a drum beneath a boiler, into
which sediment and mud in the water can settle for removal. -- Mud eel
(Zoöl.), a long, slender, aquatic amphibian (Siren lacertina), found in
the Southern United States. It has persistent external gills and only
the anterior pair of legs. See Siren. -- Mud frog (Zoöl.), a European
frog (Pelobates fuscus). -- Mud hen. (Zoöl.) (a) The American coot
(Fulica Americana). (b) The clapper rail. - - Mud lark, a person who
cleans sewers, or delves in mud. [Slang] -- Mud minnow (Zoöl.), any
small American fresh-water fish of the genus Umbra, as U. limi. The
genus is allied to the pickerels. -- Mud plug, a plug for stopping the
mudhole of a boiler. -- Mud puppy (Zoöl.), the menobranchus. -- Mud
scow, a heavy scow, used in dredging; a mud boat. [U.S.] -- Mud turtle,
Mud tortoise (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of fresh-water
tortoises of the United States. -- Mud wasp (Zoöl.), any one of
numerous species of hymenopterous insects belonging to Pepæus, and
allied genera, which construct groups of mud cells, attached, side by
side, to stones or to the woodwork of buildings, etc. The female places
an egg in each cell, together with spiders or other insects, paralyzed
by a sting, to serve as food for the larva. Called also mud dauber.
Mud, v. t. 1. To bury in mud. [R.] Shak.