mucoid 
The membrane is coated in places with a scanty mucoid 
exudation. Lancet, No. 3447, p. 605. 
Mucoid degeneration. See degeneration. Mucoid tis- 
sue, mucutis tissue. 
mucopurulent (mii-ko-pu'ro-lent), . [< L. mu- 
c/ts, mucus, + puriileiitus, purulent: see mucus 
and purulent.] Of or pertaining to mucus and 
pus: as, a mucopurulent discharge (a discharge 
in which these two substances are present). 
muco-pus (mu'ko-pus), n. [< L. mucus, mucus, 
4- pus, matter of a sore.] In pathol., a mor- 
bid liquid product containing a considerable 
amount of muciu and numerous leucocytes. 
mucor (mu'kor), n. [< L. mucor, mold, moldi- 
ness, < nmcere, be moldy: see mucid.~\ 1. 
Moldiness; mustiness. 2. [cap.] [NL.] A ge- 
nus of zygomycetous fungi, typical of the sub- 
order Mwcorece; the true molds. The reproduction 
is asexual, by the formation of numerous spores in a rela- 
tively large sporangium, and sexual, by the conjugation 
of two hyphae, which gives rise to a zygospore. The most 
common species is M. Mucedo. See iivoldv. 
3. In med., mucus. 
Mucoreae (mu-ko're-e), n. pi. [NL., < Mucor + 
-ea!.] A suborder of zygomycetous fungi of the 
order Mucorini, typified by the genus Mucor. 
They are mostly saprophytic, occurring on bread, fruits, 
saccharine fluids, excrement of animals, etc. Sometimes 
called Mucorei. 
Mucorini (mu-ko-ri'ni), n. pi. [NL., < Mucor 
+ -int.] An order of zygomycetous fungi, the 
typical genus of which is Mucor. Sometimes 
written Mucoracece. 
mucosa (mu-ko'sa), n. [NL., sc. membrana : see 
mucous.] A mucous membrane. More fully 
called mernbrana mucosa, 
niucose (mu'kos), a. [< L. mucosus: see mu- 
cous.] Same as mucous. 
mucoserous (mu-ko-se'rus), a. [< L. mucus, 
mucus, + serum, serum: see serous.] Of or per- 
taining to mucus and serum. A mucoserous 
discharge consists of serum containing mucus 
in considerable quantity. 
mucosity (mu-kos'i-ti), n. [= F. mucosite = 
Sp. mucosidad = Pg. mucosldadc = It. mucosita; 
as mucose, mucous, + -ity.] 1. Mucousness; 
sliminess. 2. A fluid containing or resembling 
mucus. 
mucososaccharine (mu-ko-so-sak'a-riu), a. [< 
L. mucosus (see mucous) + saccharum, sugar: 
see saccharine.] Partaking of the properties 
of mucilage and sugar. 
mucous (mu'kus), a. [= F. muqueux = Sp. 
mucoso, mocoso = Pg. It. mucoso, ? L. mucosus, 
slimy, (.mucus, slime, mucus: see mucus.] 1. 
Pertaining to mucus or resembling it; slimy, 
ropy, and lubricous. 2. Secreting a slimy sub- 
stance; pituitary: as, the mucous membrane. 
Mucous canals, in ichth. See the quotation. 
In most, if not all, fishes the integument of the body and 
of the head contains a series of sacs, or canals, usually dis- 
posed symmetrically on each side of the middle line, and 
filled with a clear gelatinous substance. . . . These sensory 
organs are known as the "organs of the lateral line," or 
mucous canals. Huxley, Auat. Vert., p. 79. 
Mucous fever, fish, glands, ligament. See the nouns. 
Mucous layer. See mmoUast. Mucous membrane. 
See membrane. Mucous tissue, gelatinous connective 
tissue. The cells may be round, branching, or fusiform, 
and the intercellular substance is of jelly-like consistence 
and contains mucin. Mucous tissue forms the chief bulk 
of the navel-string, or umbilical cord, in 
which case it is called the jetty of Wharton. 
The vitreous humor of the eye also con- 
sists mainly of this tissue. 
mucousness (mu'kus-nes), . The 
state of being mucous ; sliminess. 
Johnson. 
mucro (mu'kro), re. ; pi. mucrones 
(mu-kro'nez). [L., a sharp point, 
esp. of a sword.] A tip; a spine 
or spine-like process ; a mucronate 
part or organ; a sharp tip or point. 
True it is that the mucro or point thereof 
inclineth unto the left. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., iii. 2. 
Specifically (a) In etitom.,&n angular pro- 
jection on the margin or surface of a hard 
part, as on the thighs or the tips of the 
elytra ; an angular process shorter than a 
spine. (6) In bat., a short and abrupt point 
of a leaf or other organ. Mucro cordis, 
the lower pointed end of the heart. 
mucronate (mu'kro-nat), a. [= F. 
mucrone = Pg. mucronado = It. mu- 
cronato, < L. mucronatus, pointed, 
< mucro(n-), a sharp point: see mu- 
cro.] Narrowed to a point; end- 
ing in a tip ; having a mucro : as, 
a mucronate feather, shell, leaf; a 
mucronate process. Mucronate 
mucronated (mu'kro-na-ted), . Tail-feather of 
Same as mucronate. ' "'S'uSS' 
Mucronulate 
Leaflet of Picta 
3886 
mucronately (mu'kro-nat-li), adr. In a mu- 
cronate manner; in or with a tip or pointed 
end. 
mucrones, Plural of mucro. 
mucroniferous (mu-kro-nif' e-rus), a. [< L. 
mitcro(n-), a sharp point, + ferre = E. bear^.] 
Same as mucronate. 
mucronulate (mu-kron'u-lat), a. [< NL. mucro- 
nulatus, < *mueronulus, dim. of L. mucro(n~), a 
sharp point: see mucronule.] In 
bot. andzool., minutely mucronate ; 
having a little point, as the carpels 
of 8ida mucroni/lata. 
mucronule (mu'kro-nul), n. [< 
NL. "mucronulus, dim. of L. mu- 
cro(n-), a sharp point: see mucro.] 
A small mucro. 
muculentt (mu'ku-lent), a. [< 
LL. muculcntus, full "of mucus, < 
L. mucus, mucus: see mucus.] 1. 
Slimy; moist and moderately 
viscous. Bailey. 2. Resembling 
mucus; mucoid; gelatinous; cel- 
lulose. Behrens, Micros, in Botany (trans.), v. 
Mucuna (mu-ku'nii), n. [NL. (Adanson, 1763), 
< mucuna, the Brazilian name of one of these 
plants.] A genus of leguminous climbing herbs 
and shrubs of the tribe Phaseoleai, characterized 
by showy flowers with the banner smaller than 
the wings or the acute keel, and anthers of two 
shapes. About 22 species are known, usually climbing 
high, natives of warm climates throughout the globe, with 
clusters of purplish or yellowish flowers, leaves of three 
leaflets, and fleshy pods, usually clothed with stinging 
hairs. The cowhage or cowitch of New South Wales is 
M. yigantea. For M. pruriens, see cowhage, 1. 
mucus (mu'kus), n. [<L. mucus, muccus(= Gr. 
pmai;, found only in grammarians, and perhaps 
after the L. word), mucus, slime; of. Qtr.uvurK, 
snuff of a wick, /uifo, mucus, akin to airo-uvaoetv, 
wipe away, L. mungere, blow the nose, Skt. 
v/ muck, release.] 1. A viscid fluid secreted by 
the mucous membrane of animals. It is charac- 
terized by the presence of considerable quantities of mu- 
cin. Also called animal mucilage. 
2. In bot., gummy matter soluble in water. 
3. The slime of fish Mucus-glands. Seemucous 
glands, under gland. 
mucyline (mu'si-lin), n. [< muc(ilage) + -yl + 
-me?.] A sizing for woolen yarn. It is a solution 
in water of a paste compounded of stearin, soap, glycerin, 
and sulphate of zinc. 
mud (mud), n. [< ME. mud, mod, mudde, < 
MLG. mudde, LG. mudde, mod = Sw. modd, 
mud, mire ; cf . MHG. mot, G. mott, peat (see 
moafl). Hence ult. mother^, q. v.] Moist and 
soft earth or earthy matter, whether produced 
by rains on the earthy surface, by ejections 
from springs and volcanoes, or by sediment 
from turbid waters ; mire. 
mud (mud), v. ; pret. and pp. mudded, ppr. mud- 
ding. [< mud, n.] I. trans. 1. To bury in mud 
or mire ; cover or bedaub with mud. 
I wish 
Myself were mudded in that oozy bed 
Where my son lies. Shak., Tempest, v. 1. 151. 
2. To make turbid or foul with dirt ; stir the 
sediment in (liquors). 
Mud not the fountain that gave drink to then. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 577. 
The fount of my teares, troubled and mudded with the 
toadlike stirring and longbreathed vexation of thy venim- 
ous enormities, is no longer a pure silver spring but a 
miry puddle for swine to wallow in. Nash, Christ's Tears. 
II. intrans. To go in or under the mud, for 
refuge or warmth, as does the eel. 
mudar, n. See madar. 
mud-bank (mud'bangk), n. An accumulation 
of mud, especially as formed by streams. 
mud-bass (mud'bas), . A centrarchoid fish, 
Acantharchus pomotis. It has an oblong-oval form; 
teeth on the tongue, palate, and pterygoids; a large mouth; 
Mud-dauber {Pelopaus luncttus}. 
(About natural size.) 
Mud-bass {Acantharchus fort 
(From Report of U. S. Fish Com 
cycloid scales ; convex caudal fin; and eleven spines in 
the dorsal and five in the anal fin. It is about 4 inches 
long, and is found in still fresh- water streams near the At- 
lantic coast of the United States from New Jersey to South 
Carolina. 
muddle 
mud-bath (mud'bath), n. A kind of bath con- 
nected with some mineral springs, consisting 
of mud transfused with saline or other ingre- 
dients, in which patients suffering from rheu- 
matism, etc., plunge the whole or parts of the 
body with supposed good results: as, the mud- 
baths of St. Amand or of Barbotan, in France. 
mud-bit (mud'bit), n. In well-boring, a chisel- 
edged tool used for cutting through dense strata 
of clay shale and the like. 
mud-boat (mud'bot), n. A boat for carrying off 
and discharging the mud dredged from a bar or 
river-channel. 
mud-burrower (mud'bur // o-er), n. A crusta- 
cean of the genus Callianassa. 
mud-cat (mud'kat), n. A catfish, Leptops oli- 
varis. See Leptops, 1. 
mud-cock (mud'kok), n. A cock inaboilerused 
in blowing out the deposits of sediment; a 
purging-valve or -cock. 
mud-cone (mud'kon), . A conical elevation of 
more or less decomposed material (lava and 
ashes) softened by water ; a mud-volcano : of 
frequent occurrence in solfataric areas or re- 
gions of dying-out volcanism. See mild-volcano. 
mud-coot (mud '- 
kot), n. The com- 
mon American 
coot, Fulica ame- ~ r- 
ricana. 
mud-crab (mud'- 
krab), n. A crab 
of the genus Pa- 
nopams. 
muddar, . Same 
as madar. 
mud-dauber 
(mud ' da " ber), . 
A digger-wasp of 
the family Sphegidce. See blue-jacket, 2. 
mud-devil (mud'dev'l), n. A menopome. 
muddify (mud'i-fi), v. t.; pret. and pp. muddi- 
Jie<l, ppr. muddifying. [< mud -t- L. facere, 
make: see -fy.] To make muddy; cloud; soil. 
Don't muddify your charming simplicity with contro- 
versial distinctions that will sour your sweet piety. 
Walpole, Letters (1789), IV. 491. (Davies.) 
muddily (mud'i-li), adv. 1. In a muddy man- 
ner; turbidly ; with foul mixture. 2. Ob- 
scurely; cloudily; confusedly. 
Lucilius writ not only loosely and muddily. Dryden. 
muddiness (mud'i-nes), . 1. The quality or 
condition of being muddy ; turbidness ; foul- 
ness caused by mud, dirt, or sediment: as, the 
muddiness of a stream. 2. Obscurity ; want of 
perspicuity. 
mud-dipper (mud'dip // er), n. The ruddy duck, 
Krisiiiiitura rubida. G. Trumbull. See cut un- 
der Erismatura. [Virginia.] 
muddle (mud'l), v. ; pret. and pp. muddled, ppr. 
muddling. [Freq. of mud, v.] I. trans. 1. 
To make foul, turbid, or muddy, as water. 
He did 111 to muddle the water. Sir R. L'Estrange. 
2. To bewilder; perplex. 
Fagging at Mathematics not only fatigues, but hope- 
lessly muddles an unmathematical man, so that he is in 
no state for any mental exertion. 
C. A. Bristed, English University, p. 267. 
3. To intoxicate partially; cloud or stupefy, 
particularly with liquor: as, to muddle one's 
brains. 
I was . . . often drunk, always muddled. 
Arbuthnot, Hist. John Bull. 
4. To spend profitlessly ; waste ; misuse ; frit- 
ter : usually with away. 
His genius disengaged from those worldly influences 
which would have disenchanted it of its mystic enthu- 
siasm, if they did not muddle it ingloriously away. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 143. 
5. To bring into a state of confusion; make a 
mess of. 6. To mix; stir: as, to muddle choco- 
late or drinks. 
II. intrans. 1. To contract filth; become 
muddy or foul. 
He never muddles in the dirt. Swift, Dick's Variety. 
2. To become confused, especially from drink. 
3. To potter about ; wander confusedly. 
There are periods of quiescence during which he not 
only feels comparatively well, but really acts well in the 
sense of muddling about, somewhat crippled it may be, 
but with a convalescent energy deserving praise. 
Lancet, No. 3454, p. 947. 
muddle (mud'l), w. [<. muddle, i:] 1. A mess; 
dirty confusion ; filth. 2. Intellectual confu- 
sion ; cloudiness ; bewilderment. [Colloq.] 
We both grub on in a muddle. Dickens. 
