Quagmire (comics)
WordNet
noun
(1) A soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
WiktionaryText
Etymology
Recorded since 1579, from two virtual synonyms: obsolete (a variant of , from }; cognate with ) + (from , from , akin to and ). The sense "difficult situation, inextricable position" is recorded since 1775.
Alternative: Apparently a var. of the earlier < + .
Noun
- A swampy, soggy area of ground.
- That quagmire regularly 'swallows' caught-up hikers' boots
- A perilous, mixed up and troubled situation; a hopeless tangle; a predicament.
- The paperwork got lost in a quagmire of bureaucracy.
- Those election results are a quagmire for any coalition except one of national union