From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
mire
n 1: a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
[syn: mire, quagmire, quag, morass, slack]
2: deep soft mud in water or slush; "they waded through the
slop" [syn: slop, mire]
3: a difficulty or embarrassment that is hard to extricate
yourself from; "the country is still trying to climb out of
the mire left by its previous president"; "caught in the mire
of poverty"
v 1: entrap; "Our people should not be mired in the past" [syn:
entangle, mire]
2: cause to get stuck as if in a mire; "The mud mired our cart"
[syn: mire, bog down]
3: be unable to move further; "The car bogged down in the sand"
[syn: grind to a halt, get stuck, bog down, mire]
4: soil with mud, muck, or mire; "The child mucked up his shirt
while playing ball in the garden" [syn: mire, muck,
mud, muck up]