Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mess \Mess\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Messed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Messing}.]
   To take meals with a mess; to belong to a mess; to eat (with
   others); as, I mess with the wardroom officers. --Marryat.

Mess \Mess\, v. t.
   To supply with a mess.

Mess \Mess\, n.
   Mass; church service. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Mess \Mess\, n. [OE. mes, OF. mets, LL. missum, p. p. of mittere
   to put, place (e. g., on the table), L. mittere to send. See
   {Mission}, and cf. {Mass} religious service.]
   1. A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision
      of food for a person or party for one meal; as, a mess of
      pottage; also, the food given to a beast at one time.

            At their savory dinner set Of herbs and other
            country messes.                       --Milton.

   2. A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is
      prepared in common; especially, persons in the military or
      naval service who eat at the same table; as, the wardroom
      mess. --Shak.

   3. A set of four; -- from the old practice of dividing
      companies into sets of four at dinner. [Obs.] --Latimer.

   4. The milk given by a cow at one milking. [U.S.]

   5. [Perh. corrupt. fr. OE. mesh for mash: cf. muss.] A
      disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a
      situation resulting from blundering or from
      misunderstanding; as, he made a mess of it. [Colloq.]

Mess \Mess\, v. t.
   To make a mess of; to disorder or muddle; to muss; to jumble;
   to disturb.

         It was n't right either to be messing another man's
         sleep.                                   --Scribner's
                                                  Mag.

Source : WordNet®

mess
     n 1: a state of confusion and disorderliness; "the house was a
          mess"; "she smoothed the mussiness of the bed" [syn: {messiness},
           {muss}, {mussiness}]
     2: informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a
        terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage" [syn: {fix},
         {hole}, {jam}, {muddle}, {pickle}, {kettle of fish}]
     3: soft semiliquid food; "a mess of porridge"
     4: a meal eaten by service personnel
     5: a (large) military dining room where service personnel eat
        or relax [syn: {mess hall}]
     6: (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent;
        "a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of
        money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "it must
        have cost plenty" [syn: {batch}, {deal}, {flock}, {good
        deal}, {great deal}, {hatful}, {heap}, {lot}, {mass}, {mickle},
         {mint}, {muckle}, {peck}, {pile}, {plenty}, {pot}, {quite
        a little}, {raft}, {sight}, {slew}, {spate}, {stack}, {tidy
        sum}, {wad}, {whole lot}, {whole slew}]

mess
     v 1: eat in a mess hall
     2: make a mess of or create disorder in; "He messed up his
        room" [syn: {mess up}]