messes

Noun (1)

mess (countable and uncountable, plural messes)

1. A thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation.
   • No, look, I know that the place looks like a bit of a mess but it's actually a very delicate ecosystem. Everything is connected. It's like the rainforest. You change one thing, even the tiniest bit, and the whooole rainforest dies. You don't want the rainforest to die, do ya?2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4

   Synonyms:

   disorder, bedlam, car crash, chaos, confusion, disarray, disorganization, dog's breakfast, dog's dinner, free-for-all

2. (colloquial) A large quantity or number.
   • Messerschmidts! A whole mess of Messerschmidts!1943 November 20, Daffy the Commando, spoken by Daffy Duck
3. (euphemistic) Excrement.
   • There was dog mess all along the street.
4. (figuratively) A person in a state of (especially emotional) turmoil or disarray; an emotional wreck.
   • Between the pain and the depression, I'm a mess.

Noun (2)

mess (plural messes)

1. (obsolete) Mass; a church service.
2. (archaic) A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; also, the food given to an animal at one time.
   • a mess of pottagec. 1555, Hugh Latimer, letter to one in prison for the profession of the Gospel

See all 22 meanings of mess