muddler
(ˈmʌd(ə)lə(r))
[f. muddle v. + -er1.]
1. a. One who muddles.
| 1885 L'pool Daily Post 27 Mar. 4/7 The assumption that those who are not contented to till the narrow barren fields of non-resistance are..inconsistent muddlers. 1903 Contemp. Rev. May 610 One Unionist candidate is reduced to the plea that the other side will be ‘greater muddlers’. |
b. Comb., as muddler-through, one who conducts affairs without system or foresight (see muddle v. 6 b).
| 1930 New Statesman 1 Nov. 110/2 That is my complaint against the peace-lovers, the muddlers-through. 1945 G. Millar Maquis iv. 66, I am a muddler-through if ever there was one. |
2. (See quots.)
| 1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down 70 Mudler, a small metal stamper, used in public houses to crush the lumps of sugar in punch. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Muddler, a churning stick for chocolate. A smaller one for mixing toddies. 1955 M. McCarthy Charmed Life (1965) 24 She did them [sc. Old-Fashioneds]..in their best glasses..putting in a silver muddler. 1971 Scope (S. Afr.) 19 Mar. 77/4 A ‘muddler’—for crushing lump sugar and mixing it with bitters or other flavourings in the bottom of a glass. |