hugger-mugger
    adv 1: in secrecy; "they did it all hugger-mugger"
    adj 1: in utter disorder; "a disorderly pile of clothes" [syn:
           disorderly, higgledy-piggledy, hugger-mugger,
           jumbled, topsy-turvy]
    2: conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods;
       "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger
       activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue";
       "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms";
       "surreptitious mobilization of troops"; "an undercover
       investigation"; "underground resistance" [syn: clandestine,
       cloak-and-dagger, hole-and-corner(a), hugger-mugger,
       hush-hush, secret, surreptitious, undercover,
       underground]
    n 1: a state of confusion; "he engaged in the hugger-mugger of
         international finance"

Hugger-mugger \Hug"ger-mug`ger\, n. [Scot. huggrie-muggrie;
   Prov. E. hugger to lie in ambush, mug mist, muggard sullen.]
   1. Privacy; secrecy. Commonly in the phrase in hugger-mugger,
      with haste and secrecy. [Archaic]
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            Many things have been done in hugger-mugger.
                                                  --Fuller.
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   2. Confusion; disorder.
      [PJC]

Hugger-mugger \Hug"ger-mug`ger\, a.
   1. Secret; clandestine; sly.
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   2. Confused; disorderly; slovenly; mean; as, hugger-mugger
      doings.
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