mire
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++mire /maɪə $ maɪr/ noun [uncountable] literary 1 DNdeep mud 泥潭，泥坑 The wheels got stuck in the mire. 轮子陷入泥潭里了。2 the mire literary PROBLEMa bad or difficult situation that you cannot seem to escape from 困境；艰难的处境 SYN quagmire The Party sank deeper into the mire of conflict. 该党在冲突的泥潭里陷得更深了。3. drag somebody’s name through the mire literary CRITICIZEto say bad things about someone in public, so that other people have a bad opinion of them 玷污某人的名声，辱没某人
Examples from the Corpus
mire• One outstanding local example was the Broyle in Ringmer, 2000 acres of scrub and clay mire, an old deer park.• As the country is at present face down in the mire, such a development could only have positive benefits for us all.• I was sinking fast in the mire of soft money.• No one who had ever struggled in the mire as she had, could fail to understand.• It will take a political Houdini escape trick to keep him from being sucked further into the mire.• His enemies had made false accusations against him and wanted to drag him through the mire.Origin mire (1200-1300) Old Norse myrrmire nounChinese
mud deep Corpus
mire
mire /maɪə $ maɪr/
noun [uncountable] literary
The wheels got stuck in the mire.
2. the mire a bad or difficult situation that you cannot seem to escape from
SYN quagmire:
The Party sank deeper into the mire of conflict.
3. drag sb’s name through the mire to say bad things about someone in public, so that other people have a bad opinion of them
▪ marsh an area of low flat ground that is always wet and soft, that often has grasses or reeds growing in it but no trees: The low hills you can see are like islands surrounded by the marsh. | Miles of salt marsh (=which has salt water under it because it is near the sea) stretched before us, reaching to the shores of the River Severn. | Hackney Marshes | the rustling of the marsh grass
▪swamp land that is always very wet or covered with a layer of water, that often has trees growing in it - used especially about areas in hot countries: the swamps of Florida | Less than 200 years ago, the city was a swamp, infested by mosquitoes.
▪bog an area of low wet muddy ground, sometimes with bushes or grasses growing in it: His foot started slowly sinking into the bog. | The destruction of peat bogs is contributing to global warming, according to a report commissioned by Friends of the Earth.
▪wetland an area of land that is partly covered with water, and that has grasses and other plants growing in it – often used about areas that are important to birds or wildlife: The ecosystem of the world 's largest wetland, the Pantanal in southwest Brazil, is being threatened by tourists. | wetland birds
▪fen a large area of low flat wet land - used especially about the area of this type of land in eastern England in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, which is known as the Fens: He grew up in the Fens | Intensive cultivation and continued drainage of the Fens further accelerates the degradation of the land.
▪mire literary an area of wet muddy ground, which people and vehicles etc get stuck in: The wagon was stuck fast in the mire. | The rain was turning the highway into a mire.
mire /maɪə $ maɪr/
noun [uncountable] literary Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old Norse
Origin: myrr
1. deep mud:Language: Old Norse
Origin: myrr
2. the mire a bad or difficult situation that you cannot seem to escape from
SYN quagmire:
3. drag sb’s name through the mire to say bad things about someone in public, so that other people have a bad opinion of them
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