bog down

phrasal verb

bogged down; bogging down; bogs down
1
: to cause (something) to sink in wet ground
The mud bogged down the car.
The car got bogged down in the mud.
often used figuratively
It's easy to get bogged down in details.
2
: to become stuck in wet ground
The car bogged down in the mud.
often used figuratively
The story bogs down after the second chapter.

Examples of bog down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Should Hamas continue to bog down the Israeli military, its support among the Palestinian people could rise. Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Nov. 2023 Many urban invasions — from the Middle Ages to modernity — have started off with a rapid advance, only to later bog down in districts that favor defenders. Damien Cave, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2023 But despite the risks, those enmeshed in the financial industry, like Abbott from Accenture, hope that products like IBM’s or GitHub’s can untangle the spaghetti code that so often bogs down big banks. Ben Weiss, Fortune, 9 Oct. 2023 The group’s newest proclamation threatens to bog down negotiations over a continuing resolution that would provide temporary funding between the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 and the pending enactment of the 2024 fiscal year budget. Svetlana Shkolnikova Stars and Stripes (tns), al, 25 Aug. 2023 Everything bogs down and the Irish offense sputters with a few three and outs, and everyone on the outside will fret about him, his playbook, the future. Tom Noie, USA TODAY, 25 Aug. 2023 This situation is not a stalemate, however, and won’t become a stalemate if the current Ukrainian push falls short of expectations or bogs down again after initial successes. Karolina Hird, Time, 3 Aug. 2023 Quick starts require deliberate slipping of the clutch, or the engine bogs down. Arthur St. Antoine, Car and Driver, 17 July 2023 For example: One problem is the lack of convenient access to reference materials, which bogs down work during busy season. Karla L. Miller, Anchorage Daily News, 15 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bog down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near bog down

Cite this Entry

“Bog down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bog%20down. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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