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

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Etymology

Origin of quicksand

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quicksand quicksands

The rescuers rode off in the literal dust and, as one might imagine, the effect of the reunions is emotional quicksand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

"It's like quicksand," he shouted in surprise to his family watching from a distance.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

"Everything changes," he said, adding "It seems like quicksand."

From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026

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

From Salon ● May 11, 2025

Horsemen, riding very swiftly, had indeed been sighted: still far behind but gaining on the Orcs, gaining on them like a tide over the flats on folk straying in a quicksand.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

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

Next up for the Dukes is a play about the perilous quicksands of Morecambe bay.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 4, 2010

Amid the shifting quicksands of life they stand fast as milestones.

From Diana Tempest, Volume II (of 3) by Mary Cholmondeley

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