Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also muck out) to beat, to surpass, to ruin financially.

1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict. 22: Muck – to clean out, to win all a person’s money.
1837		Reading Mercury 20 May 3/4: Foot Race [...] Winter is backed by some Londoners who [...] were so completely ‘mucked out’ by the Windsorites.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open [as cit. 1835].
1859, 1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 18/1: It’s no use; luck’s set in him – he’d muck a thousand!
1878		‘’Arry on the Turf’ in Punch 29 Nov. 297/1: Took two quid of the Boss’s, wus luck, and got mucked for the whole bloomin’ lot.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 6: Muck - To beat or excel. ‘It’s no use; his luck’s dead in, he’d muck me clean out’.
1887		‘’Arry in the Witness-Box’ in Punch 5 Feb. 61/2: That mucked me, took all the romp out of me somehow.
1892		E.J. Milliken ’Arry Ballads 70: I’m mucked, that’s a moral.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 51: Muck Out, a gambler who wins all his adversary has.
1905		Sun. Times (Perth) 8 Oct. 4/8: East Fremantle’ll muck ’em a treat!
1915		R.P. Hamilton diary 28 Feb. 🌐 It was as much my fault as anybody’s for being such a bore. [...] Keep thinking of how I had mucked their arrangements.
1959		G. Hamilton Summer Glare 77: ‘I see,’ he said. ‘Dumps are marbles. And I suppose “mucked” means that you won my dumps.’.

2. to beat, to deal with violently.

1844

Leeds Times 22 June 6/2: The gallant 70th are out! The policemen ’ll catch it now! [...] T’ soldiers ’ll muck you out presently!

3. (UK Und.) to pay for.

1846

Swell’s Night Guide 77: He [...] scarpered from the crib, and put Bet in the hole for the heap [...] and left her a dead stunner to muck the pad, and tip for the lumber.

4. to dirty.

1888–94

‘Walter’ My Secret Life (1966) I 69: I had so mucked it in washing that an infant could have guessed what I had been doing.

5. to irritate.

1888

‘’Arry on Marriage’ in Punch 29 Sept. 156/1: Wor mucks me, old man, is the manner in which a chap gets the off-shunt / As soon as he’s labelled ‘engaged.’.

6. to fail, to make a mess of.

1887		‘’Arry in the Witness-Box’ in Punch 5 Feb. 61/2: [He] jolly nigh mucked the whole game in his fear of not making a case.
1899		Kipling ‘An Unsavoury Interlude’ in Complete Stalky & Co. (1987) 80: You know as well as we do that you can’t do anything by yourself without mucking it.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 107: Tell him Diaobolo and Angela want him to watch out for their cues, ’cos he mucked ’em last night.
1924		C.J. Dennis ‘A Woman’s Way’ in Chisholm (1951) 90: A privit, fambly meet — an’ ’ere Doreen’s / Muckin’ it all by draggin’ in this Free.
1936		D. Stivens Tramp and Other Stories 49: Bloody poor way of spendin’ the afternoon . . . keepin’ on the water-waggon . . . she’ll have to make up for mucking my afternoon.
1945		D. Bolster Roll On My Twelve 9: I hope to God I don’t muck it.

7. (US) to work as a manual labourer, esp. a navvy.

1919		Pvt F.W. Barton in Columbia Press Yank Talk 22: They told me how I’d listed up To fight the Boches fair, Then changed my shovel for my gun, I’m muckin’; c’est la guerre.
1967		(con. 1920s) J. Thompson South of Heaven (1994) 7: We’re certainly not going to stoop to mucking.