mire

1 of 2

noun

ˈmī(-ə)r 

1

: wet spongy earth (as of a bog or marsh)

The mire is relieved only by small stretches of open dry forest …

—Saturday Review

2

: heavy often deep mud or slush

The troops trudged onward through the mire.

3

: a troublesome or intractable situation

found themselves in a mire of debt

miry

ˈmīr-ē 

adjective

mire

2 of 2

verb

mired; miring

transitive verb

1

a

: to cause to stick fast in or as if in mire

The car was mired in the muck.

b

: to hamper or hold back as if by mire : entangle

The company has been mired in legal problems.

2

: to cover or soil with mire

his mired boots

intransitive verb

: to stick or sink in mire

… a road in which horses and wagons mired regularly.

—Edmund Arnold

Synonyms of mire

Noun

• mud

Verb

• stain
• muck
• dirty
• soil
• blacken
• muddy
• mess

Examples of mire in a Sentence

Noun

The troops marched onward through the muck and the mire.

played on a football field that was thick with mire

Verb

the sight of the standard, which had emerged from the battle mangled and mired, still stirred the soldiers' hearts

the case has been mired in probate court for years

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

His two goals, one of them a beauty, really dragged England out of the mire. — Phil Hay, New York Times, 4 July 2026

The reader who pauses for breath, after this recitation of horrors, is soon rewarded by being plunged into a yet more catastrophic mire. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

Verb

The Chicago Sky are mired in another uncomfortable midseason conundrum after guard Skylar Diggins spent a third consecutive game sidelined with a knee injury. — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 13 July 2026

Developers have long wanted to build a whole new community in the Tejon Pass near the Kern County line, though the Centennial project, as it’s called, has been mired in regulatory and legal challenges — and concerns about fire risk — for years. — Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English, from Old Norse mȳrr; akin to Old English mōs marsh — more at moss

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing mire

• drag through the mire/mud

Rhymes for mire

• dire
• ire
• lyre
• quire
• spire
• squire
• admire
• afire
• aspire
• backfire
• esquire
• expire

Kids Definition

mire

1 of 2 noun

ˈmī(ə)r 

1

: wet spongy ground (as of a bog or marsh)

2

: heavy often deep mud or slush

miry

ˈmī(ə)r-ē 

adjective

mire

2 of 2 verb

mired; miring

1

a

: to sink or stick fast in mire

b

: entangle sense 2, involve

2

: to soil with mud or slush

Medical Definition

mire

noun

ˈmī(ə)r 

: any of the objects on the arm of an ophthalmometer that are used to measure astigmatism by the reflections they produce in the cornea when illuminated