mire
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to plunge and fix in mire; cause to stick fast in mire.
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to involve; entangle.
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to soil with mire; bespatter with mire.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a boggy or marshy area
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mud, muck, or dirt
verb
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to sink or cause to sink in a mire
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(tr) to make dirty or muddy
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(tr) to involve, esp in difficulties
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have miredperfect
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has miredperfect 3rd person singular
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am miringprogressive 1st person singular
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are miringprogressive
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has been miringperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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miringparticiple
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miressingular 3rd person
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is miringprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been miringperfect progressive
Past
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had miredperfect
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miredsimple
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was miringprogressive singular
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miredparticiple
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were miringprogressive plural
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had been miringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mire
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old Norse mȳrr “bog”; cognate with Old English mēos moss
Explanation
A mire is mushy ground like quicksand, so if you feel yourself trapped in a sticky situation, consider yourself mired. One gets mired IN something — like in a dispute or in a love triangle. Mire still has its original, though less-used, sense of a slushy, muddy bit of land that gives way underfoot, also known as a quagmire. One of the most famous mires in literary history was the one haunted by the Hound of the Baskervilles in Conan Doyle's classic. Have the fibs you told your beloved come back to haunt you? You're stuck in a mire then, a treacherous situation it's going to be pretty hard to squirm out of.
Vocabulary lists containing mire
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Abdirahman Mire, the boxing federation's secretary general, also looks on.
From BBC • May 16, 2023
A bidet is a better way to clean yourself, writes the TV writer and producer Muna Mire.
From New York Times • Oct. 10, 2022
Last Wednesday, “Desus & Mero” producer Muna Mire posted a picture of a Morritt’s pamphlet on Twitter.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2022
Mire could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 10, 2021
This means that he is hiding something in the middle of the Grimpen Mire and doesn’t want anyone else to find it.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
