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muddy the waters. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
muddy the waters, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Verb
muddy the waters (third-person singular simple present muddies the waters, present participle muddying the waters, simple past and past participle muddied the waters)
- (idiomatic) To make something unclear and difficult to understand.
- Alternative form: muddy the water
2004 March 12, Giles Tremlett, “The clues that point towards al-Qaida”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:He insisted that the Basque separatist group Eta remained the main line of investigation, and suggested the tape may have been an attempt to muddy the waters.
2018 November 4, John Crace, “Marr founders on the Rocks of Arron Banks's muddy waters”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:“Thank you for having me on,” Banks began. The one statement he made that sounded genuinely credible. It’s not often that someone accused of electoral fraud gets to muddy the waters on live television ahead of a possible criminal investigation.
Translations
To make something unclear and difficult to understand