Definition of "bungle" [bun•gle]

• To work or act ineptly or inefficiently. (verb-intransitive)
• To handle badly; botch. See Synonyms at botch. (verb-transitive)
• A clumsy or inept performance; a botch: made a bungle of the case due to inexperience. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Every bungle is followed by the same sorry litany."
• "(Troll prophylactic: yes, Mr. Tenet was a holdover from the Clinton administration, but the claim that it's all Bill Clinton's fault, along with everything else that the Bush administration has managed to bungle, is fatuous."
• "Opposition Leader John Robertson said the bungle was an "absolute disgrace" and the Premier should put interim contacts in place."