a deep, semifluid deposit or bed of sand in which an animal, heavy object, etc. may be trapped or engulfed
Origin of quicksand
Middle English quykkesand: see quick and sandquicksand
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"quicksand." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/quicksand>.
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quicksand. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/quicksand
quicksand
noun
- 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.
- often quicksands A place or situation into which entry can be swift and sudden but from which extrication can be difficult or impossible: “This theory of the future entrapped [them] in the quicksands of Vietnam” ( Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. )
Origin of quicksand
Middle English quyksond living sand quick, quyk living ; see quick . sand, sond sand ; see sand .THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"quicksand." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/quicksand>.
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quicksand. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/quicksand
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.
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"quicksand." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/quicksand>.
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quicksand. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/quicksand
Noun
(countable and uncountable, plural quicksands)
Origin
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.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"quicksand." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/quicksand>.
APA Style
quicksand. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/quicksand
Sentence Examples
- Swiss Army exists to fortify your resources should you ever find yourself backpacking through Malaysia, wrestling jungle serpents, or stumbling into a unwelcoming pool of quicksand.
- In ground which is of the nature of quicksand, piles will often slowly rise to their original position after each blow.
- "The Delta," he exclaims, "shall become a plashy quicksand, a second Syrtis !
- " quicksand," loose water-logged sand, readily yielding to weight or pressure, and "quicksilver," the common name of the metal mercury.
- Veins and flat deposits below the general level Boring of the country; or the outcrop lies beyond the limits of the property or under water or water-bearing formations, or is covered by quicksand, or is deeply buried.
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Also Mentioned In
WORDS NEAR quicksand IN THE DICTIONARY
- quicksand
- quicksandlike
- quicksands
- quicksandy