make a pig's ear of

verb

To do badly; to make a mess of.

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Meanings

verbmake a pig's ear of (third-person singular simple present makes a pig's ear of, present participle making a pig's ear of, simple past and past participle made a pig's ear of)

present singular third person makes a pig's ear of · participle present making a pig's ear of · participle past made a pig's ear of · past made a pig's ear of

  1. UKidiomatictransitiveTo do badly; to make a mess of.

    Instead, he had lain awake for hours, knowing he'd made a pig's ear of everything, and trying to think of a way to sort things out.

    2003, Kate Walker, Desert Affair, →ISBN, page 140
    1 more example

    England responded with goals of their own from Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck and, on the balance of play, deserved the victory. Yet there were long spells when they threatened to make a pig's ear of it.

    14 August 2013, Daniel Taylor, “Rickie Lambert's debut goal gives England victory over Scotland”, in The Guardian

Translations

German Mist verzapfen, Scheiße bauen
  • Mist verzapfento make a mess of
  • Scheiße bauento make a mess of
  • vermasselnto make a mess of
Cite this entry
APA

make a pig's ear of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20pig's%20ear%20of

MLA

“make a pig's ear of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20pig's%20ear%20of. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “make a pig's ear of,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20pig's%20ear%20of.

Source: make a pig's ear of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.