MESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does mess mean? 

• MESS (noun)
  The noun MESS has 6 senses:

1. a state of confusion and disorderliness

2. informal terms for a difficult situation

3. soft semiliquid food

4. a meal eaten in a mess hall by service personnel

5. a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax

6. (often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent

  Familiarity information: MESS used as a noun is common.

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

1. eat in a mess hall

2. make a mess of or create disorder in

  Familiarity information: MESS used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of confusion and disorderliness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

mess; messiness; muss; mussiness

Context example:

she smoothed the mussiness of the bed

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

disorder; disorderliness (a condition in which things are not in their expected places)

Derivation:

mess (make a mess of or create disorder in)

messy (dirty and disorderly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Informal terms for a difficult situation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

fix; hole; jam; kettle of fish; mess; muddle; pickle

Context example:

he made a muddle of his marriage

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

difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)

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

dog's breakfast; dog's dinner (a poor job; a mess)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Soft semiliquid food

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Context example:

a mess of porridge

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

aliment; alimentation; nourishment; nutriment; nutrition; sustenance; victuals (a source of materials to nourish the body)

Derivation:

mess (eat in a mess hall)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A meal eaten in a mess hall by service personnel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

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

meal; repast (the food served and eaten at one time)

Derivation:

mess (eat in a mess hall)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

mess; mess hall

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

dining-room; dining room (a room used for dining)

Meronyms (parts of "mess"):

training table (planned meals for athletes in training (usually served in a mess hall))

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

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

officer's mess (a mess for the exclusive use of officers)

Derivation:

mess (eat in a mess hall)

Sense 6

Meaning:

(often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

batch; deal; flock; good deal; great deal; hatful; heap; lot; mass; mess; mickle; mint; mountain; muckle; passel; peck; pile; plenty; pot; quite a little; raft; sight; slew; spate; stack; tidy sum; wad

Context example:

a wad of money

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

large indefinite amount; large indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude)

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

deluge; flood; inundation; torrent (an overwhelming number or amount)

haymow (a mass of hay piled up in a barn for preservation)

• MESS (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mess    ... he / she / it messes   
Past simple: messed   
Past participle: messed   
-ing form: messing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Eat in a mess hall

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

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

eat (eat a meal; take a meal)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue mess

Derivation:

mess (a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax)

mess (a meal eaten in a mess hall by service personnel)

mess (soft semiliquid food)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a mess of or create disorder in

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

mess; mess up

Context example:

He messed up his room

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

disarray; disorder (bring disorder to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

mess (a state of confusion and disorderliness)

 Context examples 

“I believe that life is a mess,” he answered promptly.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A man to dinner, and everything in a mess!

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And will you tell me you'll let yourself be led away with that kind of a mess of swabs?

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Most galaxies undergoing this process are more of a mess.

(Hubble Sees Plunging Galaxy Losing Its Gas, NASA)

It's not a nice mess, I'll allow.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He saw Spitz run out his scarlet tongue in a way he had of laughing; and he saw François, swinging an axe, spring into the mess of dogs.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

At the door of a cottage I saw a little girl about to throw a mess of cold porridge into a pig trough.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I have been to Turner's about your mess; it is all in a way to be done.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can’t imagine how you deduce it.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Seeing that she had really melted away to nothing, Dorothy drew another bucket of water and threw it over the mess.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)