mess up

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mess up (third-person singular simple present messes up, present participle messing up, simple past and past participle messed up)

1. (transitive) To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss.

   The afternoon breeze messed up my hair.

   • 1962, S. Schoeman, Strike!: A Handbook of Angling in South African Coastal Waters, page 58:

     […] kwatumas, those aggressive and sharp-toothed eels that so thoroughly mess up one's tackle when hooked […]

2. (transitive) To cause a problem with; to introduce an error or mistake in; to make muddled or confused; spoil; ruin.

   The change messed something up, and it's not working anymore.

4. (transitive) To botch, bungle; to perform poorly on.

   Well, I messed up my solo, but otherwise it was a good concert.

5. (intransitive) To make a mistake; to do something incorrectly; to perform poorly.

   He has a hard time getting started because he's afraid he'll mess up.

   She messed up on her final exam.

6. (transitive) To cause (another person) to make unwanted mistakes in a given task, usually through distraction or obnoxious behavior.

   Stop bumping me! You keep messing me up!

7. (transitive) To damage; injure.

   He messed up his elbow at the track meet.

8. (transitive, slang) To manhandle; beat up; rough up.

   Her brother's friends messed him up a little after he cheated on her.

9. (transitive, slang) To discombobulate, utterly confuse, or confound psychologically; to throw into a state of mental disarray.

   That girl totally messed me up, man. I'm not sure who I am anymore.

• (make a physical mess of): fuck up (vulgar), gum (verb: "gum up")
• (cause an error or problem in): fuck up, jack up, louse up, screw up
• (botch, bungle): gum (verb: "gum up"), foul up, fuck up, screw up
• (intransitive: make a mistake, perform poorly): fuck up, screw up; see also Thesaurus:make a mistake
• (cause (another) to make mistakes): screw up
• (damage, injure): fuck up, jack up, screw up
• (manhandle, rough up): fuck up
• (discombobulate, throw into mental disarray): fuck up

• messed up (adjective)

• spumes