1
: wet spongy earth (as of a bog or marsh)
the mire is relieved only by small stretches of open dry forest—
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: 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
mired; miring
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
: to stick or sink in mire
a road in which horses and wagons mired regularly—Edmund Arnold
Edmund ArnoldExamples 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
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2025
Lesser biographies pick sides; Mangold trusts us to find our own path through the mire, while noting the particular risk of being a wunderkind hoisted up into a deity.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 23 Apr. 2025
The most stinging repute came from China, which accused the U.S. of abandoning Haiti at a dire moment after helping set up its ruling transitional presidential council, now mired in controversy and credibility issues.
—Arkansas Online, 22 Apr. 2025
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Noun
Narratively, The Handmaid’s Tale was so deep in the Trumpian mire that even when Trump decisively lost the 2020 election, there was no opportunity to imagine or reflect any resumption of liberty tied to a Biden presidency.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2025
Lesser biographies pick sides; Mangold trusts us to find our own path through the mire, while noting the particular risk of being a wunderkind hoisted up into a deity.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Verb
Most Popular Most Popular Former UConn men’s basketball player finds new home in transfer portal
CT mall mired in foreclosure has new owners with familiar name.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 23 Apr. 2025
The most stinging repute came from China, which accused the U.S. of abandoning Haiti at a dire moment after helping set up its ruling transitional presidential council, now mired in controversy and credibility issues.
—Arkansas Online, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mire
Cite this Entry
“Mire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mire. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mire
2 of 2 verb
mired; miring
1
a
: to sink or stick fast in mire
b
2
: to soil with mud or slush
Medical Definition
mire
noun
: 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
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