quicksand

American  

[kwik-sand] / ˈkwɪkˌsænd /

noun

quicksands plural

1. 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.

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quicksand British  

/ ˈkwɪkˌsænd /

noun

1. a deep mass of loose wet sand that submerges anything on top of it

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quicksand Scientific  

/ kwĭk′sănd′ /

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• quicksandy
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• quicksands
  plural

Etymology

Origin of quicksand

First recorded in 1275–1325, quicksand is from the Middle English word qwykkesand. See quick, sand

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quicksand quicksands

That early access gave Xi a front-row seat to the raw mechanics of military power—and taught him that the commander who doesn’t fully control the generals is a leader standing on quicksand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

For the next eight years, as if submerging into quicksand, I sank deeper into debt.

From Salon ● May 11, 2025

Newcastle could, and should, have added more as they simply over-powered a Liverpool team who looked like they were running in quicksand, this loss compounding the midweek Champions League exit against PSG on penalties.

From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025

Liquefaction occurs when shaking from an earthquake effectively turns the land into quicksand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2024

Apparently, to survive quicksand, you should stay perfectly still.

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

The words of that movement — “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood” — still echo.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2022

A family spokesman said: "He pioneered fundraising cross-bay walks and was responsible for leading 6,000 charity walkers a year, avoiding the treacherous quicksands and dangerous areas."

From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2021

For long passages they were overwhelmed by a side who had spent 237 days in the relegation quicksands.

From The Guardian ● May 11, 2016

Who, seriously, would be taken aback now if Villa, confidence shot to pieces, could not clamber out of the Premier League's quicksands?

From The Guardian ● Jan. 26, 2013

And here, at last, we may strike a bit of terra firma in the quicksands of speculative hygiene.

From Health, Happiness, and Longevity Health without medicine: happiness without money: the result, longevity by McCarty, Louis Philippe

Related Words

• ambush
• bait
• booby trap
• device
• net
• pitfall
• ploy
• quagmire
• ruse