What does "mire" mean?
Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.
Mire
/ˈmaɪɚ/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.
- Grammar: mire is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: morass, quagmire, adhere, baygall.
- Useful contrasts: desert, detach, dry land.
- Usage evidence: “That is the great Grimpen Mire,” said he. “A false step yonder means death to man or beast. Only yesterday I saw one of the moor ponies wander into it. He never came out. I saw his head for quite a long time craning out of the bog-hole, but it sucked him down at last. "
How to use "mire"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mire" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mire" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mire" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mire" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mire" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "morass" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mire", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Deep mud; moist, spongy earth. countable, uncountable
"His laden feet sand and stuck in mire; he was bedaubed with the blue-gray clay from head to foot; but he had escaped the deadly river!"
- 2 An ant. obsolete, rare
""Having been seriously interrupted by small brown ants or mires working in my cutting bench, digging holes down the side of my cuttings, thereby arresting the process of rooting. […]""
- 3 a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot wordnet
- 4 A bog or fen; (in wetland science, specifically) a peatland which is actively forming peat, such as an active bog or fen. countable, uncountable
"Glagolev […] measured CH₄ emission from a mire in West Siberia using a static chamber method. Similar methods had been developed and tested by Nakano et al. (2006), Fig. 1."
- 5 a difficulty or embarrassment that is hard to extricate yourself from wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 An undesirable situation; a predicament. countable, uncountable
"Swansea seemed to be pulling clear of trouble with five wins in their first eight games following head coach Paul Clement's appointment, but two successive defeats had dragged the Swans back into the mire."
- 7 deep soft mud in water or slush wordnet
Verb
- 1 To cause or permit to become stuck in mud; to plunge or fix in mud. transitive
"to mire a horse or wagon"
- 2 soil with mud, muck, or mire wordnet
- 3 To sink into mud. intransitive
- 4 be unable to move further wordnet
- 5 To weigh down. figuratively, transitive
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 cause to get stuck as if in a mire wordnet
- 7 To soil with mud or foul matter. intransitive
"Why had I not with charitable hand Took up a beggar’s issue at my gates, Who smirch’d thus and mired with infamy, I might have said ‘No part of it is mine; This shame derives itself from unknown loins’?"
- 8 entrap wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"“That is the great Grimpen Mire,” said he. “A false step yonder means death to man or beast. Only yesterday I saw one of the moor ponies wander into it. He never came out. I saw his head for quite a long time craning out of the bog-hole, but it sucked him down at last. ""
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mire"?
Common synonyms include: morass, quagmire, adhere, baygall, become stuck, befoul.
How do you use "mire" in a sentence?
“That is the great Grimpen Mire,” said he. “A false step yonder means death to man or beast. Only yesterday I saw one of the moor ponies wander into it. He never came out. I saw his head for quite a long time craning out of the bog-hole, but it sucked him down at last. "
How do you pronounce "mire"?
Pronounced /ˈmaɪɚ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English mire, a borrowing from Old Norse mýrr, from Proto-Germanic *miuzijō, whence also Swedish myr, Norwegian myr, Icelandic mýri, Dutch *mier (in placenames, for example Mierlo). Related to Proto-Germanic *meusą, whence Old English mēos, and Proto-Germanic *musą, whence Old English mos (English moss).
Etymology 2
From Middle English mire, from Old English *mȳre, *mīere, from Proto-West Germanic *miurijā, from Proto-Germanic *miurijǭ (“ant”). Cognate to Old Norse maurr, Danish myre, Middle Dutch miere (“ant”) (Dutch mier). All probably from Proto-Indo-European *morwi- (“ant”), whence also cognate to Latin formīca.