v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Muddled p. pr. & vb. n. Muddling ] [ From Mud. ] 1. To make turbid, or muddy, as water. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] He did ill to muddle the water. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially. [ 1913 Webster ] Epicurus seems to have had brains so muddled and confounded, that he scarce ever kept in the right way. Bentley. [ 1913 Webster ] Often drunk, always muddled. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ] They muddle it [ money ] away without method or object, and without having anything to show for it. Hazlitt. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. To mix confusedly; to confuse; to make a mess of; as, to muddle matters; also, to perplex; to mystify. F. W. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ] |