Meaning

7 senses
  1. To mix together, to mix up; to confuse.

    Young children tend to muddle their words.

    verwirren

    перепу́татьperepútatʹ, спу́татьspútatʹ

    mix up or confuse

  2. To mash slightly for use in a cocktail.

    He muddled the mint sprigs in the bottom of the glass.

  3. To dabble in mud.

    c. 1721-1722, Jonathan Swift, The Progress of Marriage Young ducklings foster'd by a hen; But, when let out, they run and muddle

  4. To make turbid or muddy.

    make into a puddle

  5. To think and act in a confused, aimless way.

  6. To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.

  7. To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated.

Examples

10 sentences
  1. I'm in the middle of a muddle.

    deIch sitze ganz schön in der Patsche.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · al_ex_an_der · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  2. You'll have to muddle through on your own.

    deDa wirst du dich irgendwie allein durchschlagen müssen.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · sundown · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  3. Tom was in a real muddle over his holiday plans.

    deTom war wegen seiner Urlaubsplanungen ganz durcheinander.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · sundown · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. His English has a murky, muddled sound to it, don't you think?

    CC BY · Tatoeba · Luornu · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  5. Alcohol muddled part of the man's brain that usually handles inhibitory actions.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · threewingdinner · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

6 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
mix together, to mix up; to confuse:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
mix together, to mix up; to confuse:

Origin

From Middle English modelen (attested in present participle modeland (“wallowing”)), from

From Middle English modelen (attested in present participle modeland (“wallowing”)), from Middle Dutch moddelen (“to make muddy”), from modde, mod (“mud”) (Modern Dutch modder). By surface analysis, mud + -le. Compare German Kuddelmuddel.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

muddles, muddling, muddled, muddled
Base formmuddle · to muddle
3rd person singularmuddles
Present participlemuddling
Past simplemuddled
Past participlemuddled

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theymuddle
he, she, itmuddles

Past simpleLesson

all personsmuddled

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave muddled
he, she, ithas muddled

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill muddle

Phrasal verbs

4 phrasal verbs

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
muddle — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto