mush

/məʃ/

/məʃ/

Other forms: mushed; mushing; mushes

Mush is a soft, squishy clump of something. That bowlful of mush your grandfather gave you for breakfast might be oatmeal.

Mush is a soggy mass, and cornmeal mush is a kind of porridge that fits this description. Mush is also something so overly sentimental that it's almost disgusting: "Oh, that movie was terrible, just a bunch of romantic mush!" When you use mush as a verb or an exclamation, it's usually in the context of dogsledding, meaning "Go!" or "Move forward!" This last meaning comes from the French marche, "walk" or "go."

Definitions of mush

1. noun

   any soft or soggy mass
   synonyms: pulp

   type of:

   mass

   a body of matter without definite shape
2. noun

   cornmeal boiled in water
   synonyms: cornmeal mush

   types:

   atole

   eaten as mush or as a thin gruel

   hasty pudding

   cornmeal mush served with sweetening (maple syrup or brown sugar)

   polenta

   a thick mush made of cornmeal boiled in stock or water

   type of:

   hot cereal

   a cereal that is served hot
3. noun

   writing or music that is excessively sweet and sentimental
   synonyms: glop, slop, treacle

   type of:

   sentimentalism

   the excessive expression of tender feelings, nostalgia, or sadness in any form
4. noun

   a journey by dogsled
   type of:

   journey, journeying

   the act of traveling from one place to another
5. verb

   travel with a dogsled
   synonyms: dogsled

   type of:

   sled, sleigh

   ride (on) a sled
6. verb

   drive (a team of dogs or a dogsled)
   synonyms:

   dogsled

   travel with a dogsled

   type of:

   drive

   urge forward