quagmire

quagmire
\ \ [16] The now virtually defunct word quag denoted a ‘marsh’, particularly one with a top layer of turf that moved when you trod on it.
\ \ Combination with mire (which also originally meant ‘marsh’, and is related to English moss) produced quagmire. It is not known where quag came from, but its underlying meaning is generally taken to be ‘shake, tremble’, and it may ultimately be of imitative origin.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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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 — (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

  • 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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