quicksand
[ kwik-sand ]
/ ˈkwɪkˌsænd /
Save This Word!
noun
a bed of soft or loose sand saturated with water and having considerable depth, yielding under weight and therefore tending to suck down any object resting on its surface.
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON “THEIR,” “THERE,” AND “THEY’RE”
Are you aware how often people swap around “their,” “there,” and “they’re”? Prove you have more than a fair grasp over these commonly confused words.
Question 1 of 7
Which one of these commonly confused words can act as an adverb or a pronoun?
Origin of quicksand
OTHER WORDS FROM quicksand
quicksandy, adjectiveWords nearby quicksand
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for quicksand
British Dictionary definitions for quicksand
quicksand
/ (ˈkwɪkˌsænd) /
noun
a deep mass of loose wet sand that submerges anything on top of it
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for quicksand
quicksand
[ kwĭk′sănd′ ]
A deep bed of loose, smoothly rounded sand grains, saturated with water and forming a soft, shifting mass that yields easily to pressure and tends to engulf objects resting on its surface. Although it is possible for a person to drown while mired in quicksand, the human body is less dense than any quicksand and is thus not drawn or sucked beneath the surface as is sometimes popularly believed.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.