Definition of "quagmire" in English

noun

1. A swampy, soggy area of ground.

   • That quagmire regularly ‘swallows’ caught-up hikers’ boots

2. (figuratively) A perilous, mixed up and troubled situation; a hopeless tangle.

   • The paperwork got lost in a quagmire of bureaucracy.
   • Those election results are a quagmire for any coalition except one of national union.

verb

1. (transitive) To embroil (a person, etc.) in complexity or difficulty.