bog down

verb

1. to impede or be impeded physically or mentally

Idioms and Phrases

Become stuck, be unable to progress, as in Their research bogged down because they lacked the laboratory expertise. This expression transfers sinking into the mud of a swamp to being hampered or halted. [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

Patricia also bogs down in the details of translating her earlier book into a Hollywood screenplay, with Kurt Russell keen on the part of her father.

From Los Angeles Times

And obviously, Folds knows that a show that stars a beagle and a small yellow bird that defies classification is not the right place to get bogged down in the issues of the day.

From Los Angeles Times

But the effort was ultimately bogged down by internal bureaucracy and international pressure — most notably from Qatar and Turkey, both sometime U.S. partners that harbor strong Brotherhood sympathies and bankroll Islamist causes.

From Los Angeles Times

“There were a lot more dead ends and red herrings that would bog down readers,” Hogan observes.

From Los Angeles Times

The Russians then crossed into Ukraine but quickly became bogged down in fighting over small border villages, which keep changing hands even today.

From BBC

Related Words

• halt 
• hang up 
• impede 
• stall