mire

 
Pronunciation: /mʌɪə/

noun

  • 1a stretch of swampy or boggy ground: acres of land had been reduced to a mire
  • [mass noun] soft mud or dirt: the roads retained their winter mire
  • Ecology a wetland area or ecosystem based on peat.
  • 2a complicated or unpleasant situation from which it is difficult to extricate oneself: the service is sinking in the mire of its own regulations

verb

[with object]
  • cause to become stuck in mud: sometimes a heavy truck gets mired down
  • cover or spatter with mud: the horse waded through the red mud that mired it to its hocks
  • (mire someone/thing in) involve someone or something in (a difficult situation): the economy is mired in its longest recession since the war

Origin:

Middle English: from Old Norse mýrr, of Germanic origin; related to moss