muddy up
B2 informal separable transitive
In simple words
To make something dirty with mud, or to make an issue harder to understand.
Literal meaning: To cover something with mud — the figurative extension to 'making things murky' is intuitive.
Meanings
1 B2
idiomatic
informal
To make a situation or issue more confusing or complicated than necessary.
"Introducing new regulations at this stage will only muddy up an already complex debate."
Grammar: separable
2 B1 informal
To make something physically dirty with mud.
"The kids came in and muddied up the whole kitchen floor."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
The figurative sense is common in political and media discussions, as in 'muddy the waters.' 'Muddy up' is a slightly more emphatic or colloquial variant of the same idea. The literal sense is less frequent.
Commonly used with
waters issue situation picture debate boots
Forms
Base
muddy up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
muddies up
he/she/it
Past simple
muddied up
yesterday
Past participle
muddied up
have + pp
-ing form
muddying up
continuous
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Synonyms
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