# muck

> English word · Noun · IPA /mʌk/ · frequency rank #24,837

## Definitions
1. Slimy mud, sludge.
2. Soft (or slimy) manure.
3. Anything filthy or vile. Dirt; something that makes another thing dirty.
4. Grub, slop, swill
5. Money.
6. The pile of discarded cards.
7. Heroin.
8. Pornography.
9. Semen.
10. Food, especially that eaten quickly.

## Etymology
From Middle English mok, muk, from Old Norse myki, mykr (“dung”) or less likely Old English *moc, *moce (in hlōsmoc (“pigsty dung”) and lustmoce (“lady's smock (Cardamine pratensis)”)) (compare Icelandic mykja and Danish møg ("dung")), from Proto-Germanic *mukį̄ (“dung; manure”), from Proto-Germanic *muk-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mewg-, *mewk- (“slick, slippery”) (compare Welsh mign (“swamp”), Latin mūcus (“snot”), mucere (“to be moldy or musty”), Latvian mukls (“swampy”), Albanian myk (“mould”), Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa, “mucus, lamp wick”), Ancient Greek μύκης (múkēs, “mushroom”), German Mauke (“mud fever”)), from *(s)mewg, mewk 'to slip'. More at meek.

## Easily confused with
- **mum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mum)
- **MUD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mud)
- **mug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mug)
- **mun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mun)
- **muh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-muh)
- **must** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-must)
- **mute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mute)
- **muse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-muse)
- **musk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-musk)
- **mule** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mule)
- **mums** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mums)
- **muir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-muir)
- **Musa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-musa)
- **mush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mush)
- **mull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mull)
- **mutt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mutt)
- **muni** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-muni)
- **muff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-muff)
- **Munn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-munn)
- **mudd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/muck-vs-mudd)

## Common misspellings (6)
`mcuk`, `mmuck`, `mucck`, `muckk`, `mukc`, `umck`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/muck