Hypertext Webster Gateway: "mess"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Mess
a portion of food given to a guest (Gen. 43:34; 2 Sam. 11:8).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mess \Mess\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Messed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Messing}.]
To take meals with a mess; to belong to a mess; to eat (with
others); as, I mess with the wardroom officers. --Marryat.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mess \Mess\, v. t.
To supply with a mess.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mess \Mess\, n.
Mass; church service. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mess \Mess\, n. [OE. mes, OF. mets, LL. missum, p. p. of mittere
to put, place (e. g., on the table), L. mittere to send. See
{Mission}, and cf. {Mass} religious service.]
1. A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision
of food for a person or party for one meal; as, a mess of
pottage; also, the food given to a beast at one time.
At their savory dinner set Of herbs and other
country messes. --Milton.
2. A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is
prepared in common; especially, persons in the military or
naval service who eat at the same table; as, the wardroom
mess. --Shak.
3. A set of four; -- from the old practice of dividing
companies into sets of four at dinner. [Obs.] --Latimer.
4. The milk given by a cow at one milking. [U.S.]
5. [Perh. corrupt. fr. OE. mesh for mash: cf. muss.] A
disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a
situation resulting from blundering or from
misunderstanding; as, he made a mess of it. [Colloq.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mess \Mess\, v. t.
To make a mess of; to disorder or muddle; to muss; to jumble;
to disturb.
It was n't right either to be messing another man's
sleep. --Scribner's
Mag.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
mess
n 1: a state of confusion and disorderliness; "the house was a
mess"; "she smoothed the mussiness of the bed" [syn: {messiness},
{muss}, {mussiness}]
2: informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a
terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage" [syn: {fix},
{hole}, {jam}, {muddle}, {pickle}, {kettle of fish}]
3: soft semiliquid food; "a mess of porridge"
4: a meal eaten by service personnel
5: a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat
or relax [syn: {mess hall}]
6: (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent:
"a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of
money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "it must
have cost plenty" [syn: {batch}, {deal}, {flock}, {good
deal}, {great deal}, {hatful}, {heap}, {lot}, {mass}, {mickle},
{mint}, {muckle}, {peck}, {pile}, {plenty}, {pot}, {quite
a little}, {raft}, {sight}, {slew}, {spate}, {stack}, {tidy
sum}, {wad}, {whole lot}, {whole slew}]
v 1: eat in a mess; in the military
2: make a mess of or create disorder in; "He messed up his
room" [syn: {mess up}]
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