WordWeb Online

1. A state of confusion and disorderliness
   "the house was a mess";
   - messiness, muss [N. Amer, informal], mussiness
    
2. [informal] The quality of being almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring a great effort to achieve a positive result
   - difficulty, difficultness, fix [informal], hole [informal], jam [informal], muddle [informal], pickle [informal], kettle of fish [informal]
    
3. Soft semiliquid food
   "a mess of porridge"
    
4. A meal eaten in a mess hall by service personnel
    
5. (military) a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax
   - mess hall
    
6. (often followed by 'of') a large number, amount or extent
   "a mess of letters";
   - batch, deal, flock, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mickle [archaic], mint, mountain, muckle, passel [US], peck, pile [informal], plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, sight, slew, spate, stack, tidy sum, wad, bunch [informal]

1. (military) eat in a mess hall
    
2. Make a mess of or create disorder in
   "He messed up his room";
   - mess up

Derived forms: messed, messes, messing

See also: difficult, hard

Type of: aliment, alimentation, dining room, dining-room, disarray, disorder, disorderliness, eat, large indefinite amount, large indefinite quantity, meal, nourishment, nutriment, nutrition, quality, repast, sustenance, victuals

Encyclopedia: Mess