(a) Bog, marsh, swampland; quagmire; lai ~ [see lai n.(1) (b)]; sparen nought for ~ ne mos, to refrain on account of neither swamp nor bog, sparen nether mud ne ~ (nother ~ ne mor), shun neither mud nor swamp (neither swamp nor moor), hesitate or refrain for nothing; (b) a swampy or boggy place; an expanse of marshland; a muddy patch; walken in the ~, to walk into (?wake up in) a bog, be deceived; yongen in mires, wander in the swamps, ?be stuck in the mud; (c) dirt, mud; wet or soft mud; ?also, sand [quot. ?a1400]; -- sometimes pl.; don is in the ~, the horse is mired; fig. things are at a dead stop [see also don n. (a)]; also in prov.; (d) dust as that to which man returns; (e) ?a pile of filth or dung (cp. mix n).

A pool; stream.

(a) The slough of sin; ?also, hell [quot.: Wycl.]; ~ of sinne; fleshli ~, physical or sensual temptations; (b) difficult or desperate situation; distress, trouble.

In cpds. & combs.: ~ dromble [cp. mor-thrumbil], the European bittern (Botaurus stellaris); ~ pit, a boggy or muddy hole; mires tortois, a marsh tortoise.

(a) In surnames; (b) in place names [see Smith PNElem. 2.47].