mire /maɪə $ maɪr/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable] literary
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: myrr ]
1 . deep mud:
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
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THESAURUS
▪ marsh an area of low flat ground that is always wet and soft, that often has grasses or ↑ reed s growing in it but no trees:
The low hills you can see are like islands surrounded by the marsh.
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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.
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Hackney Marshes
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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The rain was turning the highway into a mire.