mires

Noun (1)

mire (countable and uncountable, plural mires)

1. Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.
   • Sow ran and squall'd,
     While Jack he bawl'd,
     And Jill join'd in the choir,
     Dog Ball being near,
     Bit sow by the ear,
     And threw Jack into the mire.1810, Jack and Jill, and old Dame Gill, York: J. Kendrew, page 12
2. A bog or fen; (in wetland science, specifically) a peatland which is actively forming peat, such as an active bog or fen.
   • Glagolev […] measured CH₄ emission from a mire in West Siberia using a static chamber method. Similar methods had been developed and tested by Nakano et al. (2006), Fig. 1.2015 November 15, Lothar Mueller, Askhad K. Sheudshen, Frank Eulenstein, Novel Methods for Monitoring and Managing Land and Water Resources in Siberia, Springer, →ISBN, page 79

   Synonyms:

   peatland, quag

3. An undesirable situation; a predicament.
   • Swansea seemed to be pulling clear of trouble with five wins in their first eight games following head coach Paul Clement's appointment, but two successive defeats had dragged the Swans back into the mire.2017 April 2, Dafydd Pritchard, “Swansea City 0-0 Middlesbrough”, in BBC Sport, London

Noun (2)

mire (plural mires)

1. (obsolete, rare) An ant.
   • "Having been seriously interrupted by small brown ants or mires working in my cutting bench, digging holes down the side of my cuttings, thereby arresting the process of rooting. […]"1866, The Gardener's Monthly and Horticultural Advertiser Devoted, page 149

See all 9 meanings of mire