mess

«mess» in Mova's judaism dictionary: a place or things that are untidy or dirty, like a messy… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a mess, messes; mess, uncountable); verb (mess, messes, messed, messing — mess up, mess about/around, mess with)

meaning for a pupil

1) A mess is a place or things that are untidy or dirty, like a messy bedroom. tree →

2) A mess is also a bad or confusing situation with problems. tree →

3) To mess something up means to make it untidy or to spoil it or get it wrong. tree →

4) To mess about or mess around means to play or behave in a silly way instead of working. tree →

5) To mess with something means to touch or change it when you should not. tree →

6) A mess is also a room where soldiers or sailors eat, and an animal's droppings can be called mess. tree →

sense in the lessons

In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: King David sends food to Uriah in the story of Bathsheba, hoping he will go home to his wife. Interpretation: Tradition reads the gift as part of David's plan to hide his sin. Uriah refuses to go home and so the plan fails. In the primary lessons: Everyday life: tidying up a mess, cleaning up a spill, «Who made this mess?». In class: «stop messing about», «I messed up my sum, so I'll start again» — mistakes are normal and can be fixed. Safety: «Don't mess with matches, plugs or medicines». Phrases: «make a mess», «clean up the mess», «in a mess», «what a mess», «mess up», «mess about/around», «mess with».

examples

• And David said to Uriah: 'Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet.' And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of food from the king. (Prophets 2SA.11.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• Your bedroom is a mess! tree →
• Who made this mess on the kitchen floor? tree →
• I spilt paint and made a big mess. tree →
• Please clean up your mess before lunch. tree →
• I messed up the first question, so I rubbed it out. tree →
• Stop messing about and finish your work. tree →
• Don't mess with the oven knobs. tree →
• The game was a mess after it started to rain. tree →
• The puppy left a mess on the carpet. tree →
• "Woe is me," thinks the Pope; "here's a mess!" tree →

note

As untidiness it can be countable («a mess») or uncountable («some mess»). Adjective: «messy». «Mess up» is informal; in polite writing use «spoil» or «get wrong». «Messing about» (UK) = «messing around» (US). A mistake is not the end; you can fix a mess.

In the corpora

• Feeding huge crowds of pigeons with bread makes too many pigeons, and birds packed in crowds spread mess and illness more easily.
• "Made a mess" means a pet went to the toilet indoors.
• Before going home you help tidy up the mess you made.
• You help tidy up any mess you made before you go home.
• If you made a mess while playing at someone's house, help tidy up before you go home.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mess» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.