move up in the world
Improve one's social or economic status
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
moveables
Rings, watches, or any toys of value.
movers and shakers
Influential people who drive change and progress
movie jail
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
mow heater
A drover: from their frequent sleeping on hay mows. CANT.
mozzarella
Soft Italian or Italian-style cheese made from cow's or buffalo's milk and commonly used as a pizza topping and in salads etc.
mrs. grundy
The representative of the censorious world, "What will MRS. GRUNDY say?" Originally a character in the comedy of Speed the Plough.
mrs. harris
And ~Mrs. Gamp~, nicknames of the Morning Herald and Standard newspapers, while united under the proprietorship of Mr. Baldwin. MRS. GAMP, a monthly nurse, was a character in Charles Dickens’s popular novel of Martin Chuzzlewit, who continually quoted an imaginary MRS.
much ado about nothing
A big reaction or fuss over something insignificant
Much Ado about Nothing
Shakespeare's comedy, named from a proverbial saying of the time, and with only the slightest relevance to the plot, was probably written in 1599, and was published in 1600.
much better
significantly improved
much bran and little meal
More show than substance
Much is expected where much is given. (Strauss, 1994 p. 1095)
Those who receive a lot are expected to give a lot in return
much less
even less likely or true
much of a muchness
Very similar or equivalent in character or quality
muck
To beat, or excel. "It’s no use, his luck’s dead in; he’d MUCK a thousand;" "he MUCKED me clean out," &c. To RUN A MUCK, or GO A MUCKER, to rush headlong into certain ruin. From a certain religious frenzy, or intoxication caused by bhang, which is common among the Malays, and which now and again causes an enthusiast, kreese in hand, to dash into a crowd and devote every one he meets to death until he is himself killed, or falls from exhaustion.—Malay, AMOK, slaughter.
muck-out
To clean out; often applied to one utterly ruining an adversary in gambling.
muck-snipe
One who has been "MUCKED OUT," or beggared, at gambling. See MUCK.
muckender
Or MUCKENGER, a pocket-handkerchief.—Old. Cf. SNOTTINGER. The original name of the "Neckinger" in Bermondsey was "the Devil’s Neck-handkerchief." There is still a Neckinger Road and Messrs. Bevington and Sons’ tannery in Bermondsey bears the name of the Neckinger Mills.
mucker
TO GO A, to go to grief, to ruin one’s prospects.—Oxford Univ.
muckinder
A child's handkerchief tied to the side.
mud
A fool, or thick-sculled fellow; also, among printers the same as dung among journeymen taylors. See DUNG.
mud fence
a rustic or countrified person
mud lark
A fellow who goes about by the water side picking up coals, nails, or other articles in the mud. Also a duck.
mud monkey
a person who enjoys playing in muddy conditions
mud sticks
Unfounded criticism or slander can permanently damage someone's reputation
mud-crusher
A word of contempt, used by the cavalry in reference to the infantry.
mud-lark
A man or woman who, with clothes tucked above the knee, grovels through the mud on the banks of the Thames, when the tide is low, for silver or pewter spoons, old bottles, pieces of iron, coal, or any articles of the least value, deposited by the retiring tide, either from passing ships or the sewers. Occasionally applied to those men who cleanse the sewers, and who wear great boots and sou’-wester hats.
mud-student
A farming pupil. The name given to the students at the Agricultural College, Cirencester.
muddle along
to manage or progress with difficulty or confusion
muddy up
to make something confusing or unclear
mudfog
"The British Association for the Advancement of Science." Term first used by Charles Dickens in Bentley’s Miscellany, about 1836.
muff
The private parts of a woman. To the well wearing of your muff, mort; to the happy consummation of your marriage, girl; a health.
muff
A silly or weak-minded person, a duffer; MUFF has been defined to be "a soft thing that holds a lady’s hand without squeezing it."
muff diver
One who performs cunnilingus.
muffin baker
A Quaker (slang term for excrement).
muffin-cap
A cap similar to that worn by a charity-boy.
muffin-face
A white, soft, delicate, or whiskerless face.
muffin-worry
An old lady’s tea party.
Muffins and Crumpets
Muffins is probably pain- moujflet, soft bread. Du Cange describes the pams mofletus as bread of a more delicate nature than ordinary, for the use of prebends, etc., and says it was made fresh every day. Crumpets is a word of ancient but unknown origin. Crumpet is also slang for the head — / caught him one on the crumpet — I gave him a blow on the head.
mufti
The civilian dress of a naval or military officer when off duty.—Anglo-Indian. From an Eastern word signifying a clergyman or priest.
mug
The face.
mug
The mouth, or face.—Old.
mug's game
A futile or unprofitable activity
mug-up
To paint one’s face, or dress specially with a view to impersonation.—Theatrical. To "cram" for an examination.—Army.
mugged by reality
Forced to accept an unpleasant reality
mugging
A thrashing,—synonymous with "slogging," both terms of the "ring," and frequently used by fighting men.
muggle
Marijuana.
muggletonians
The sect or disciples of Lodowick Muggleton.
muggy
Drunk.
muggy
Drunk. Also, as applied to weather, stifling, oppressive.
mukluk telegraph
An informal, unofficial communication network
mull
"to make a MULL of it," to spoil anything, or make a fool of oneself.
mullethead
fool, idiot
mulligrubs
Sick of the mulligrubs with eating chopped hay: low-spirited, having an imaginary sickness.
Mulmutine Laws
The code of Dunvallo Mulmutius, the sixteenth legendary King of the Britons (about 400 B.C.), son of Cloten, King of Cornwall. It is said to have been translated by Gildas from British into Latin, and to have formed the basis of King Alfred's code, which obtained in England till the Conquest. (Holmshed: History of England iii, 1.
Mulready Envelope
An envelope resembling a half-sheet of letter-paper, when folded, having on the front an ornamental design by William Mulready (1786-1863), the artist. When the penny postage envelopes were first introduced (1840), these were the stamped envelopes of the day; they remained in circulation for one year only. They are prized by stamp-collectors.
multee kertever
Very bad.
mum
To silence.
mum
An interjection directing silence. Mum for that; I shall be silent as to that. As mute as Mumchance, who was hanged for saying nothing; a friendly reproach to any one who seems low-spirited and silent.
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