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foreign muck

foreign muck

9.9
Dirt or waste from another place that people dislike
  • noun
  • Offensive
translation icon : porquería extranjera
  • The pond was polluted by foreign muck carried in by the flooding river.

Examples

  • After the storm, my yard was filled with foreign muck washed in from the street.

  • He refused to eat what he called foreign muck, insisting on traditional home-cooked meals.

  • Look at this foreign muck!

  • What is this foreign muck doing here?

  • After the storm, my yard was filled with foreign muck washed in from the street.

  • The pond was polluted by foreign muck carried in by the flooding river.

  • He refused to eat what he called foreign muck, insisting on traditional home-cooked meals.

Synonyms

muck
vsforeign muck
54 3.7

A wet dirty substance like mud or animal waste

refers to unwanted material coming from another country rather than local waste
gunk
vsforeign muck
15 4.6

Thick sticky stuff that is dirty or unpleasant

is used for unwanted material coming from another country rather than viscous stuff
flotsam and jetsam
vsforeign muck
1 7.4

Unwanted things left behind, often washed up on a beach

focuses on unwanted material coming from another country rather than shore debris
guck
vsforeign muck
  • Informal
1 9.5

A thick sticky substance that looks dirty and unpleasant

is aimed at unwanted material coming from another country rather than messy sticky substance

Surface Forms

foreign muck singular
foreign mucks plural

Morphology

foreign + muck

The meaning is directly compositional: 'foreign' = from another place/country and 'muck' = dirty/unwanted material, so the phrase denotes dirty material originating elsewhere. This adjective+noun combination follows a transparent, non-idiomatic pattern that a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer.

Etymology

Foreign muck may come from the simple image of foreign (from another place) and muck (mud or dirty waste) being washed or blown into your yard or pond. That's why people use it to mean 'unwanted material or dirt brought in from somewhere else' and often say it in a negative way.