10 PHRASE You use much as to introduce a fact which makes something else you have just said or will say rather surprising. □ Much as they'd like to go home, they're resigned to staying until the end of the year.
11 PHRASE You use as much in expressions such as ' I thought as much ' and ' I guessed as much ' after you have just been told something and you want to say that you already believed or expected it to be true. □ You're waiting for a woman–I thought as much.
12 PHRASE You use as much as before an amount to suggest that it is surprisingly large. [EMPHASIS ] □ The organisers hope to raise as much as £6m for charity.
13 PHRASE You use much less after a statement, often a negative one, to indicate that the statement is more true of the person, thing, or situation that you are going to mention next. □ They are always short of water to drink, much less to bathe in.
14 PHRASE You say nothing much to refer to something that is not very interesting or important. □ 'What was stolen?'—'Oh, nothing much.'
15 PHRASE If you describe something as not much of a particular type of thing, you mean that it is small or of poor quality. □ It hasn't been much of a holiday.
16 PHRASE So much for is used to indicate that you have finished talking about a subject. [SPOKEN ] □ Well, so much for the producers. But what of the consumers?
17 PHRASE If you say so much for a particular thing, you mean that it has not been successful or helpful. [INFORMAL ] □ He has spent 19 million pounds, lost three cup finals and been relegated. So much for money.
18 PHRASE If you say that something is not so much one thing as another, you mean that it is more like the second thing than the first. □ I don't really think of her as a daughter so much as a very good friend.
19 PHRASE If you say that someone did not do so much as perform a particular action, you are emphasizing that they did not even do that, when you were expecting them to do more. [EMPHASIS ] □ I didn't so much as catch sight of him all day long.
20 PHRASE You use so much so to indicate that your previous statement is true to a very great extent, and therefore it has the result mentioned. □ He himself believed in freedom, so much so that he would rather die than live without it.
21 PHRASE If a situation or action is too much for you, it is so difficult, tiring, or upsetting that you cannot cope with it. □ [+ for ] His inability to stay at one job for long had finally proved too much for her.
22 PHRASE You use very much to emphasize that someone or something has a lot of a particular quality, or that the description you are about to give is particularly accurate. [EMPHASIS ] □ …a man very much in charge of himself.
23 a bit much → see bit
24 not up to much → see up ➋ USAGE much
1
You don’t usually use ‘much’ as an object pronoun in positive sentences. Instead you use a lot
. For example, don’t say ‘
2
In positive sentences, don’t use 'much' without 'very'. Don’t say, for example, ‘
much- /mʌ tʃ-/ COMB Much- combines with past participles to form adjectives which emphasize the intensity of the specified state or action. [EMPHASIS ] □ I'm having a much-needed rest. □ …a much-improved version of last season's model.
mu ch-mali gned ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe someone or something as much-maligned , you mean that they are often criticized by people, but you think the criticism is unfair or exaggerated because they have good qualities too. □ I'm happy for James. He's a much-maligned player but has tremendous spirit.
mu ch-tra velled in AM, use much-traveled ADJ A much-travelled person has travelled a lot in foreign countries.
muck /mʌ k/ (mucks , mucking , mucked ) N‑UNCOUNT Muck is dirt or some other unpleasant substance. [INFORMAL ] □ This congealed muck was interfering with the filter.
▸ muck around in BRIT, also use muck about 1 PHRASAL VERB If you muck around or muck about , you behave in a childish or silly way, often so that you waste your time and fail to achieve anything. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V P ] We do not want people of his age mucking around risking people's lives. □ [V P prep/adv] He'd spent his boyhood summers mucking about in boats.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you muck around with or muck about with something, you alter it, often making it worse than it was. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V P + with ] The president's wife doesn't muck around with policy or sit in on Cabinet meetings.
3 PHRASAL VERB If you muck someone around or muck them about , you treat them badly, for example by not being honest with them or by continually changing plans which affect them. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V n P ] He does not tolerate anyone who mucks him about.
▸ muck in PHRASAL VERB If someone mucks in , they join in with an activity or help other people with a job and do not consider themselves to be too important to do it. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V P ] Course residents are expected to muck in and be prepared to share rooms. □ [V P + with ] She mucked in with the chores and did her own washing and ironing. [Also V P together ]
▸ muck up PHRASAL VERB If you muck up or muck something up , you do something very badly so that you fail to achieve what you wanted to. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V P ] I mucked up at the 13th hole and told myself that this was getting stupid. □ [V P n] He really has mucked up his chances. [Also V n P ]