noun
Meaning 1
Quagmire; marsh; bog.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
quag
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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General-American: /kwæɡ/
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General-American: /kwɑɡ/
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Received-Pronunciation: /kwæɡ/
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Received-Pronunciation: /kwɒɡ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -æɡ
noun
Meaning 2
a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mire, quagmire, morass, slack
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: bog, peat bog
History
Etymology
Uncertain. Most often suggested to be an alteration of Middle English quabbe (“a marsh, bog”), from Old English *cwabbe (“that which shakes or trembles, something soft and flabby”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwabbā (“soggy ground”); this is supported by 1590s attestations of quabmire for quagmire (other earlier variants are quamire, from the 1550s, and quavemire from the 1520s). It has alternatively been suggested to be related to quake, as quaggy ground quakes when trod. Compare typologically Russian тряси́на (trjasína) (see for more).