mire

American  

[mahy^uhr] / maɪər /

noun

1. a tract or area of wet, swampy ground; bog; marsh.

2. ground of this kind, as wet, slimy soil of some depth or deep mud.

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verb (used with object)

mired, miring

1. to plunge and fix in mire; cause to stick fast in mire.

2. to involve; entangle.

3. to soil with mire; bespatter with mire.

verb (used without object)

mired, miring

1. to sink and stick in mire or mud.

mire British  

/ maɪə /

noun

1. a boggy or marshy area

2. mud, muck, or dirt

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verb

1. to sink or cause to sink in a mire

2. (tr) to make dirty or muddy

3. (tr) to involve, esp in difficulties

Other Word Forms

• mired adjective
• miriness noun
• miry adjective

Etymology

Origin of mire

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old Norse mȳrr “bog”; cognate with Old English mēos moss

Example Sentences

After routing their bitter rivals 4-1 in November, they made the short trip up the Seven Sisters Road to inflict another humiliating defeat that pushed Tottenham deeper into the relegation mire.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

But after reading “The Dream Factory,” you might like him better when he still had his feet in the Shoreditch mire.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

When Root played a limp shot to chop on in the same over, England were in the mire.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2024

The answer, according to the management team tasked with extricating the company from its financial mire, is that it was forced on the company by self-interested owners.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2024

But the choir returned for an encore anyway, with tambourines, to sing: Swing low, sweet Chariot, And scoop me from the mire; Take me up to Glory, Snatched from Eternal Fire.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• bog down
• embroil
• enmesh
• ensnare
• entangle
• flounder
• implicate
• involve
• stick
• tangle
• trap