▪ I. † ˈmusty, a.1 ? Obs. rare.
[f. must n.1 + -y.]
Of, pertaining to, or made with must or new wine; in a state of must or newness.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. xi. 525 Now..vse this ferment ffor musty breed whom this wol condiment. 1599 Minsheu Span. Dict., Mostóso, mustie, of sweet wine. 1802 Beddoes Hygëia viii. 32 New musty liquors remain at least equally strong for a time. |
▪ II. musty, a.2 (and n.)
(ˈmʌstɪ)
[Of obscure origin.
Prob. in some way related to moisty, moist adjs., the oi of which represents OF. u.]
1. ‘Mouldy; spoiled with damp; moist and fetid’ (J.).
| 1530 Palsgr. 730/1 Sprede your corne abrode, it wyll vaxe musty els. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 649/2 When his wordes be wel sifted, men shall find little fine flowre in them, but all very mustie branne. 1604 T. M. Black Bk. in Middleton's Wks. (Bullen) VIII. 28 Away I scudded in the musty moth-eaten habit. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vii. 40 And was't thou faine..To houell thee with Swine and Rogues forlorne, In short, and musty straw? 1653 Walton Angler xiv. 199 Have your worms well scowred, and not kept in sowre or mustie moss. 1693–4 Gibson in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 216 Old musty papers are but ill company for neat cloaths and white hands. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 108 The Buyers are usually furnished with musty bad Corn from Foreign Parts. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. xi, An early public-house, haunted by unsavoury smells of musty hay. 1874 Burnand My time xiv. 120 She walked into the study amongst the old musty books. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 792 The damage done by the use of musty grain as food falls upon the nervous system. |
b. Of food, liquors, etc.: Having a mouldy or decayed smell or taste. Of a cask, bottle, etc.: Stale-smelling, fusty.
| 1530 Palsgr. 319/1 Mustye as a vessel is or wyne or any other vitayle, moysy. 1577 Patent Roll 19 Eliz. ix, Corrupte and mustie butter. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. i. ii, He looks like a mustie bottle. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. i. 50 You had musty victuall. 1681 Nevile Plato Rediv. 233 If you have a musty Vessel, and by consequence dislike the Beer which comes out of it. 1732 Pope Hor. Sat. ii. ii. 67 Nor lets, like Naevius, every error pass, The musty wine, foul cloth, or greasy glass. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 141 This Venison is musty. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 433 To correct a musty Taste in Wine. 1802 Med. Jrnl. VIII. 479 In cleansing musty casks. 1891 Daily News 5 Mar. 7/2 The puddings were occasionally made with sour milk and musty eggs. Ibid., A custard..which was sloppy and musty. |
c. Of rooms, atmosphere, etc.: Having the unpleasant faint odour suggestive of mouldiness or decay.
| 1577 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 156 Beare with me..that lead thee..into a mustie malthouse. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. iii. 61 Being entertain'd for a perfumer, as I was smoaking a musty roome, comes me the Prince and Claudio. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 592 Do not all Houses and Places grow musty..if the Air be any way prevented by Window-shutters..that it cannot have its free egress and regress? 1797 Godwin Enquirer ii. iv. 208 The very air..feels musty. |
2. fig. a. Of immaterial things, ideas, etc.: ‘Stale; spoiled with age’ (J.); that has lost its newness or interest; antiquated, disused, old-fashioned.
| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 14, I know many wise Gentlemen of this musty vocation [Antiquaries]. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 359 But while the grasse growes, the Prouerbe is something musty. 1683 Burnet tr. More's Utopia (1685) 38 Some old musty laws. 1763–5 Churchill Journey Poems 1769 II. 7 Read musty lectures on Benevolence. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) ii. xxxix, Your newspapers delayed..till..all their intelligence is musty. 1900 H. Sutcliffe Shameless Wayne xxv, Each buried legend of his house, each musty tale of wrongs suffered and repaid came back to mind. |
b. Of persons: ‘Dull; heavy; wanting activity; wanting practice in the occurrences of life’ (J.); antiquated, ‘mouldy’.
| 1637 Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. 81 They settle upon their own dregs, and grow muddy and musty with long ease. 1665 R. Brathwait Comment Two Tales (Chaucer Soc.) 48 How is it, you old musty Dotard, that with a sorrow you hide the keys of your Chests from me? 1712 Addison Spect. No. 482 ¶2 Being married to a Bookish Man, who has no Knowledge of the World, she is forced..to spirit him up now and then, that he may not grow musty, and unfit for Conversation. 1745 Fielding True Patriot Wks. 1775 IX. 298 None but a musty moralist..would have condemned such behaviour. a 1763 Byrom Poetaster 24 Then he..of old musty Bards mumbles over the Names. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. II. viii. 86 A little rusty, musty old fellow, always groping among ruins. 1883 Gd. Words 183 The doctors say we get musty and fusty if we stay in one place. |
† 3. Ill-humoured, peevish, sullen. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1620 Shelton Quix. ii. xlviii. 313 The ill-wounded Don Quixote was exceeding musty and melancholy, with his Face bound vp and scarred. 1622 Fletcher Span. Curate iv. iii, He is monstrous vexed and musty at my chessplay. 1672 Shadwell Miser i. Wks. 1720 III. 9 What a Devil makes thee in so musty a humour? c 1728 Earl of Ailesbury Mem. (1890) 691 He was very musty because I would not catch at the bait and be his bubble. 1760 Foote Minor ii. (1767) 45 Here comes the musty trader, running over with remonstrances. I must banter the cit. |
4. Comb., as musty-fusty, musty-smelling, musty walled adjs.
| 1857 W. Collins Dead Secret iv. iv, In that old part of the house it is what you call *musty-fusty. |
| 1897 E. L. Voynich Gadfly (1904) 22/1 Corridors, and stairs, all more or less *musty-smelling. |
| 1751 Female Foundling II. 135 An old, *musty walled Chapel. |
† B. n. A kind of snuff having a musty flavour.
| 1709 Steele Tatler No. 27 ¶11 I'll call at Charles's, and know the Shape of his Snuff-Box... I ought to be informed, whether he takes Spanish or Musty. Ibid. No. 79 ¶3, I made her resign her snuff-box for ever, and half drown herself with washing away the stench of the musty. |
▪ III. musty, a.3 rare.
(ˈmʌstɪ)
[f. must n.5 or a.3 + -y.]
= must a.3
| 1868 Morn. Star 6 Jan., The twentieth [elephant] was so vicious and ‘musty’. 1882 Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 57 The two ‘musty’ camels. |
▪ IV. † ˈmusty, v. Obs.
[f. musty a.2]
1. intr. To become musty. lit. and fig.
| 1631 Gouge God's Arrows ii. §22. 160 Corne..being so heaped together..mustieth, putrifieth, and is made unfit for use. 1633 Shirley Gamester ii. ii, But I may lose it ere I go to bed. Dost think 't shall musty? What's a hundred pound? 1702 T. Brown Lett. Dead to Living (1707) ii. 68 You..keep your Reputation musty'ng upon an old Foundation, which is ready to sink. |
2. trans. To render or make musty or mouldy.
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 61 It [the wheat] was mustied and spoiled with lying so long in the Ground. |
▪ V. musty
see mustee.