1
: wet spongy earth (as of a bog or marsh)
the mire is relieved only by small stretches of open dry forest—
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Saturday Review2
: heavy often deep mud or slush
The troops trudged onward through the mire.
3
: a troublesome or intractable situation
found themselves in a mire of debt
mired; miring
1
a
: to cause to stick fast in or as if in mire
The car was mired in the muck.
b
: to hamper or hold back as if by mire : entangle
The company has been mired in legal problems.
2
: to cover or soil with mire
his mired boots
: to stick or sink in mire
a road in which horses and wagons mired regularly—Edmund Arnold
Edmund ArnoldSynonyms
Examples of mire in a Sentence
Noun
The troops marched onward through the muck and the mire.
played on a football field that was thick with mire
Verb
the sight of the standard, which had emerged from the battle mangled and mired, still stirred the soldiers' hearts
the case has been mired in probate court for years
Recent Examples on the Web
Juan Velasquez, Them, 24 Oct. 2024
Dark secrets quickly raise their heads along with enemies from the past reemerging, and Jack Lowden's River Cartwright becomes tangled in the mire of his MI5 veteran grandfather's history.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024
Forrester, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
The early 90s were mired in a deep sleep caused by the invasion of Iraq and the savings and loan implosion.
—Allen Buchanan, Orange County Register, 26 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mire 
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Noun
In three succinct yet potent lines, Stevenson describes the beauty beneath the mire of metamorphosis.
—Juan Velasquez, Them, 24 Oct. 2024
Dark secrets quickly raise their heads along with enemies from the past reemerging, and Jack Lowden's River Cartwright becomes tangled in the mire of his MI5 veteran grandfather's history.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024
Verb
As countries around the world enforce these new privacy laws for the first time in 2025, CMOs will get mired in navigating different requirements and jurisdictions.
—Forrester, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
The early 90s were mired in a deep sleep caused by the invasion of Iraq and the savings and loan implosion.
—Allen Buchanan, Orange County Register, 26 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mire
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Dictionary Entries Near mire
Cite this Entry
“Mire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mire. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mire
2 of 2 verb
mired; miring
1
a
: to sink or stick fast in mire
b
2
: to soil with mud or slush
Medical Definition
mire
noun
: any of the objects on the arm of an ophthalmometer that are used to measure astigmatism by the reflections they produce in the cornea when illuminated
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