mud
n. uncountablen. soft, wet earth or dirt. You usually find it on the ground after it rains.
n. a mixture of water and soil or silt. Often used figuratively to refer to slander or scandalous information.
The children got mud all over their new shoes.
After the heavy rain, the hiking trail turned into thick mud that made walking very difficult.
The political campaign quickly descended into a series of personal attacks, with both candidates dragging each other through the mud to win over undecided voters.
From Middle English mud, mudde, mode, probably a borrowing from Middle Dutch mod, modde or Middle Low German mudde, ultimately from Proto-Germanic mud-, mudra- (“mud”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European mū-, mew- (“moist”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Mudde (“mud”), Middle High German mot (“mud”), Swedish modd (“slush”). Compare also suffixed variants English mother (“vinegar-forming sediment in alcohol”), West Frisian modder (“mud”), Dutch modder (“mud”), German Low German Mudder (“mud”), German Moder (“moldiness, mildew, decay”), Danish mudder (“mud”). Alternative etymology suggests the Proto-Germanic word is possibly borrowed from a Uralic language (compare e.g. Finnish muta (“mud”), Northern Sami mođđi (“mud”), Erzya мода (moda, “earth, ground”) from Proto-Uralic *muďa (“earth”)).
From Dutch mud, from West Germanic, from Latin modius. Doublet of modius and muid.
From MUD.
Commonly used in the idiom 'clear as mud' to describe something that is actually very confusing.