mess2 ●●○ S3 verb 1 [transitiveT] to make something look untidy or dirty 把…搞乱;把…弄脏 He scratched his head and messed his hair even more. 他挠挠头,把头发弄得更乱了。
2 [intransitiveI, transitiveT] British EnglishBrE if an animal or person messes something, they use the wrong place as a toilet 便溺于〔不是厕所的地方〕;随地便溺 He was so drunk that he messed the bed. 他喝得烂醉,都尿在床上了。
3 no messing spoken informal used to say that something was done very easily 轻松;不费吹灰之力 Williams won very comfortably, no messing. 威廉斯赢得很轻松,毫不费力。
no messing• Anyway, Steffi has beaten Seles twice this year, very comfortably indeed - no messing.• The first failed ... but there was no messing with his second. 4. [intransitiveI]PMDF to have meals in a room where members of the army, navy etc eat together 在军人食堂就餐
5 mess around (also mess about British English) phrasal verbphr v informal a) LAZYto spend time lazily, doing things slowly and in a way that is not planned 无所事事,漫无目的地度日 He spent his vacation messing around on the farm. 他在农场里东游西荡,无所事事地度过了假期。
c) PROBLEM mess somebody around to cause a lot of problems for someone, especially by changing your mind often and not being completely honest 给某人造成麻烦〔尤指常改变自己的主意或不十分坦诚〕 Don’t mess me around – I want the money you promised me. 别糊弄我——把你答应给我的钱拿来。
6 mess around with somebody/something (also mess about with somebody/something British English) phrasal verbphr v informal a) SYSEX/HAVE SEX WITHto have a sexual relationship with someone that you should not have a sexual relationship with 和…乱搞,与…有不正当的性关系 She’d been messing around with another man. 她一直在和别的男人乱搞。
b) INTERESTEDto spend time playing with something, repairing it etc 摆弄;修理 Dave likes messing around with old cars. 戴夫喜欢摆弄旧汽车。
c) to use something and make annoying changes to it 乱动,乱弄 Who’s been messing around with my camera? 谁动了我的相机?
mess around with • A monster like that is nothing to mess around with.• Now he is messing around with education, and look at the mess that that will be in.• Above all, why were these chaps messing around with helium-filled contraptions, in an age of routine rocketry?• There we were, messing around with his things, and all the time he was dead as a doornail in Paris.• Years ago Pauline blew off his fingers messing around with homemade rockets.• We knew they had to go so we messed around with it.• We had some spare time, so we started messing around with samples and sequencers and stuff. 7 mess up phrasal verbphr v informal a) mess something ↔ upSPOIL to spoil or ruin something, especially something important or something that has been carefully planned 弄糟,毁掉〔尤指重要物品或精心策划的事情〕 It took me ages to get this right – I don’t want some idiot to mess it up. 我花了好长时间才把这东西弄好——我可不想让哪个白痴把它弄坏。
She felt she’d messed up her whole life. 她感到她把自己整个生活都弄得一团糟。
b) mess something ↔ upUNTIDY to make something dirty or untidy 弄脏;弄乱 Who messed up the kitchen? 谁把厨房弄得乱七八糟的?
c) to make a mistake and do something badly 出错;搞砸 I think I messed up on the last question. 我想最后一个问题我答错了。
mess something ↔ up It doesn’t matter if you mess it up, you can always try again. 要是搞砸了也没关系,你总可以再来一次。
d) mess somebody ↔ up to make someone have emotional or mental problems 使某人心情恶劣;使某人精神出问题 I messed up my kids. 我把我的孩子们搞得焦头烂额。
e) mess somebody ↔ up American EnglishAmE informal to hurt someone especially by hitting them 伤害某人;殴打某人 mess up• Don't ask Terry to do it - she'll probably just mess it up.• I've practiced all week, but I'm still afraid I'll mess up.• We secretly organized a party for her, but then Bill messed everything up by telling her about it.• Who's messed up my nice clean kitchen?• The travel agents messed up the arrangements and there was no room for us at the hotel.• Don't mess up the living room - we have company coming tonight.• Danny messed up three plays and made us lose the game. 8 mess with somebody/something phrasal verbphr v informal a) to get involved with someone or something that may cause problems or be dangerous 与〔某人〕有牵连;卷入〔有害的事〕 Don’t mess with drugs. 不要沾上毒品。
b) to deceive someone or cause trouble for them 欺骗;给…制造麻烦 You mess with me, and I’ll rip your head off. 你要是糊弄我,我就拧掉你的脑袋。
c) to try changing something, especially in a way that damages or spoils it 试图改变〔尤指毁坏某事物〕