Quicksand meaning
Sand that is mixed with water in a collected mass and yields easily to pressure so that objects on its surface tend to sink and become engulfed.
noun
A place or situation into which entry can be swift and sudden but from which extrication can be difficult or impossible.
noun
A deep, semifluid deposit or bed of sand in which an animal, heavy object, etc. may be trapped or engulfed.
noun
A deep bed of loose, smoothly rounded sand grains, saturated with water and forming a soft, shifting mass that yields easily to pressure and tends to engulf objects resting on its surface. Although it is possible for a person to drown while mired in quicksand, the human body is less dense than any quicksand and is thus not drawn or sucked beneath the surface as is sometimes popularly believed.
Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
quicksand
Plural:
quicksandsOrigin of quicksand
-
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English quyksande, from Old English cwecesand (“quicksand"), from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (“living, active") + Proto-Germanic *samdaz, *samdÄ… (“sand"), equivalent to quick (“living") +"Ž sand. Cognate with Dutch kwikzand (“quicksand"), German Quicksand (“quicksand"), Icelandic kwiksandur, kviksyndi (“quicksand"). More at quick, sand.
From Wiktionary