mire

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mire / mīr/ • n. a stretch of swampy or boggy ground. ∎  soft and slushy mud or dirt. ∎ fig. a situation or state of difficulty, distress, or embarrassment from which it is hard to extricate oneself: he has been left to squirm in a mire of new allegations. ∎  Ecol. a wetland area or ecosystem based on peat.• v. [tr.] (usu. be mired) cause to become stuck in mud: sometimes a heavy truck gets mired down. ∎  cover or spatter with mud. ∎  (mire someone/something in) fig. involve someone or something in (difficulties): the economy is mired in its longest recession since World War II.

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