MUSH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mush mean? 

• MUSH (noun)
  The noun MUSH has 4 senses:

1. any soft or soggy mass

2. cornmeal boiled in water

3. writing or music that is excessively sweet and sentimental

4. a journey by dogsled

  Familiarity information: MUSH used as a noun is uncommon.

• MUSH (verb)
  The verb MUSH has 2 senses:

1. drive (a team of dogs or a dogsled)

2. travel with a dogsled

  Familiarity information: MUSH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MUSH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any soft or soggy mass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

mush; pulp

Context example:

he pounded it to a pulp

Hypernyms ("mush" is a kind of...):

mass (a body of matter without definite shape)

Derivation:

mushy (having the consistency of mush)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cornmeal boiled in water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

cornmeal mush; mush

Hypernyms ("mush" is a kind of...):

hot cereal (a cereal that is served hot)

Meronyms (substance of "mush"):

cornmeal; Indian meal (coarsely ground corn)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mush"):

atole (eaten as mush or as a thin gruel)

hasty pudding (cornmeal mush served with sweetening (maple syrup or brown sugar))

polenta (a thick mush made of cornmeal boiled in stock or water)

Derivation:

mushy (having the consistency of mush)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Writing or music that is excessively sweet and sentimental

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

glop; mush; slop; treacle

Hypernyms ("mush" is a kind of...):

sentimentalism (the excessive expression of tender feelings, nostalgia, or sadness in any form)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A journey by dogsled

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("mush" is a kind of...):

journey; journeying (the act of traveling from one place to another)

• MUSH (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Drive (a team of dogs or a dogsled)

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "mush" is one way to...):

drive (urge forward)

Verb group:

dogsled; mush (travel with a dogsled)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

musher (a traveler who drives (or travels with) a dog team)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Travel with a dogsled

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

dogsled; mush

Hypernyms (to "mush" is one way to...):

sled; sleigh (ride (on) a sled)

Verb group:

mush (drive (a team of dogs or a dogsled))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

musher (a traveler who drives (or travels with) a dog team)

 Context examples 

At the first shot Dutchy sank upon the table, overturning his mug of coffee, his yellow mop of hair dabbling in his plate of mush.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

In the kitchen he found Jim, the other boarder, eating mush very languidly, with a sick, far-away look in his eyes.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Ere they returned to camp he knew enough to stop at “ho,” to go ahead at “mush,” to swing wide on the bends, and to keep clear of the wheeler when the loaded sled shot downhill at their heels.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

There had been times when it was all he could do to refrain from reaching over and mopping Jim's face in the mush- plate.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Harkey lay on the floor, face downward, where he had fallen; while Dutchy rested forward on the table, his yellow mop of hair buried in his mush- plate, the plate itself still tilted at an angle of forty-five degrees.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

"Why don't you eat?" he demanded, as Martin dipped dolefully into the cold, half-cooked oatmeal mush.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)