Webster's English Dictionary

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mess

1. mess \'mes\ n [ME mes, fr. OF, fr. LL missus course at a meal, fr. 
   missus,]pp. of mittere to put, fr. L, to send - more at SMITE 1: a quantity 
   of food :  archaic  1a: food set on a table at one time  1b: a prepared 
   dish of soft food; also : a mixture of ingredients c ooked or eaten 
   together 1c: enough food of a specified kind for a dish or a meal  2: a 
   group of persons who regularly take their meals together; also :: a meal so 
   taken 3: a confused, dirty, or offensive state or condition : JUMBLE 
2. mess vt 1a: to assign to a mess  1b: to supply with meals  2: to make 
   dirty or untidy : DISARRANGE; also : BUNGLE)M 3: to interfere with  4: to 
   rough up : MANHANDLE  1: to prepare food for and serve messes  2: to take 
   meals with a mess  3: to make a mess  4a: PUTTER, TRIFLE  4b: INTERFERE, 
   MEDDLE