# mud

Pronunciation: say "MUD" /mʌd/

## Noun

1. Soft, wet earth formed when soil or fine sediment mixes with water; in geology, sediment made of silt and clay particles finer than sand.
   - Simple: Soft, wet earth, or very fine sediment such as silt and clay.
   - _The truck's tires spun uselessly in the deep mud._
   - _Hippos wallow in mud to keep cool and protect their skin from the sun._
2. Willfully abusive or slanderous remarks or accusations, especially those exchanged between political opponents.
   - Simple: Cruel or untrue things said about a person to make them look bad.
   - _The campaign slung mud at its rival instead of debating policy._
   - _Tabloids printed every piece of mud the divorce lawyers could dig up._
4. A plaster-like mixture spread on drywall to smooth or texture its surface.
   - Simple: A thick paste that workers spread on drywall to make walls smooth.
   - _She applied three coats of mud to the patched section before painting._
   - _The crew taped the joints and covered them with mud the same afternoon._
5. Drilling fluid; the liquid circulated through a well during drilling operations.
   - Simple: A special liquid pumped into a well while people drill for oil or gas.
   - _Engineers adjusted the density of the mud to keep the well under control._
   - _The rig recycles its mud, filtering out rock cuttings at the surface._
6. Concrete that is still wet while workers mix it, transport it, or pour it into place. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Wet concrete while it is being mixed and poured.
   - _The foreman ordered ten more yards of mud for the foundation._
   - _The crew raced to smooth the mud for the new sidewalk before it set._
7. Coffee. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A casual, joking word for coffee.
   - _He can't string two sentences together until he's had his morning mud._
   - _She topped off everyone's mud and slid the check onto the table._
8. A slang term for heroin or opium. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for the drugs heroin or opium.
   - _He was arrested with three grams of mud and a bundle of used needles._
   - _By twenty-five she was shooting mud daily just to hold off the sickness._

## Verb

3. To spread mud, or a plaster-like compound, over a surface such as a wall or drywall seams; less often, to make something muddy or cloud water.
   - Simple: To cover a wall or crack with mud or plaster. It can also mean to make something muddy.
   - _Dad spent Saturday mudding the cracks in the garage wall and sanding them smooth._
   - _Villagers mud the walls of the huts each spring to seal out drafts._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Money, especially when it comes from dirty or dishonest business.
- (verb) To spend time playing in a MUD (multi-user dungeon) alongside other users.
- (noun) A Black person; used as a derogatory racial slur.
- (noun) Fecal matter brought into view by anal intercourse.
- (verb) To go beneath the mud, as an eel does.
- (noun) An old Dutch measure of capacity for dry goods, varying in size but often about three bushels; also, the box used to measure it.
- (noun) In the Netherlands, a traditional land measure roughly equal to the area that could be sown with a mud of seed.

## Origin

Middle English mud, also spelled mudde or mode, was probably borrowed from Middle Low German mudde or Middle Dutch mod, modde. These go back to Proto-Germanic *mud-, perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "moist." Swedish modd ("slush") and Dutch modder ("mud") are related. Another view holds that the Germanic word may have been borrowed from a Uralic language.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mud (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).