quagmire

quagmire
quagmire (n.) 1570s, from obsolete QUAG (Cf. quag) "bog, marsh" + MIRE (Cf. mire) (n.). Extended sense of "difficult situation, inextricable position" is recorded by 1766.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Quagmire — may refer to any of the following: Fictional Characters *Glenn Quagmire (often called merely Quagmire ), a character from the animated television sitcom Family Guy *Quagmire (comics), a Marvel Comics character *Quagmire McDuck, a minor character… …   Wikipedia

  • quagmire — [n1] bad situation box*, corner*, difficulty, dilemma, entanglement, fix, hole*, imbroglio, impasse, involvement, jam, mire, morass, muddle, pass, perplexity, pickle*, pinch*, plight, predicament, quandary, scrape, trouble; concepts 666,674 Ant.… …   New thesaurus

  • quagmire — [kwag′mīr΄, kwäg′mīr΄] n. [ QUAG + MIRE] 1. wet, boggy ground, yielding under the foot 2. a difficult or inextricable position [a quagmire of debts] …   English World dictionary

  • Quagmire — Quag mire , n. [Quake + mire.] Soft, wet, miry land, which shakes or yields under the feet. A spot surrounded by quagmires, which rendered it difficult of access. Palfrey. [1913 Webster] Syn: Morass; marsh; bog; swamp; fen; slough. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • quagmire — I noun complication, crisis, critical situation, dead end, deadlock, difficulty, dilemma, distress, emergency, entanglement, exigency, imbroglio, impasse, involvement, mess, misfortune, muddle, nonplus, perplexity, pinch, plight, predicament,… …   Law dictionary

  • quagmire — ► NOUN 1) a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot. 2) a complex or difficult situation …   English terms dictionary

  • quagmire — [[t]kwæ̱gmaɪə(r)[/t]] quagmires 1) N COUNT: usu sing with supp A quagmire is a difficult, complicated, or unpleasant situation which is not easy to avoid or escape from. His people had fallen further and further into a quagmire of confusion... We …   English dictionary

  • quagmire — noun /ˈkwɒɡ.maɪə(ɹ)/ a) A swampy, soggy area of ground. That quagmire regularly swallows caught up hikers boots b) A perilous, mixed up and troubled situation; a hopeless tangle; a predicament. The pap …   Wiktionary

  • quagmire — n. in a quagmire of * * * in a quagmire of …   Combinatory dictionary

  • quagmire — quag|mire [ˈkwægmaıə, ˈkwɔg US ˈkwægmaır] n [C usually singular] [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: quag soft wet ground (16 20 centuries) (perhaps from quag to shake (17 19 centuries)) + mire] 1.) an area of soft wet muddy ground ▪ In the rainy season… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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