1
: wet spongy earth (as of a bog or marsh)
the mire is relieved only by small stretches of open dry forest—
Saturday Review
Saturday Review2
: 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 ArnoldSynonyms
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
Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Wagner, Brady and Co. are promising not only to reinvigorate a club stuck in mire but to revitalize the city, too.
—Hannah Ryan, CNN, 23 Jan. 2025
Suzy Khimm, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2025
Gay canvassed for Harris and has been tasked with helping rebrand the Black Lives Matter nonprofit mired in financial controversy and division.
—Lauren Floyd, Axios, 2 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for mire 
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Noun
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
Wagner, Brady and Co. are promising not only to reinvigorate a club stuck in mire but to revitalize the city, too.
—Hannah Ryan, CNN, 23 Jan. 2025
Verb
The process to apply for a humanitarian waiver is new and mired in confusion and delays.
—Suzy Khimm, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2025
Gay canvassed for Harris and has been tasked with helping rebrand the Black Lives Matter nonprofit mired in financial controversy and division.
—Lauren Floyd, Axios, 2 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for mire
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Dictionary Entries Near mire
Cite this Entry
“Mire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mire. Accessed 14 Feb. 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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