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quicksand

 - 4 dictionary results

quick⋅sand

[kwik-sand]
–noun
a bed of soft or loose sand saturated with water and having considerable depth, yielding under weight and therefore tending to suck down any object resting on its surface.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME qwykkesand. See quick, sand


quicksandy, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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quick·sand   (kwĭk'sānd')   
n.  
  1. A bed of loose sand mixed with water forming a soft shifting mass that yields easily to pressure and tends to engulf any object resting on its surface.

  2. A place or situation into which entry can be swift and sudden but from which extrication can be difficult or impossible. Often used in the plural: "This theory of the future entrapped [them] in the quicksands of Vietnam" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)


[Middle English quyksond, living sand : quick, quyk, living; see quick + sand, sond, sand; see sand.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

quicksand 
1400, from M.E. quyk "living" (see quick) + sond "sand." O.E. had cwecesund, but this may have meant "lively strait of water."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Science Dictionary
quicksand   (kwĭk'sānd')  Pronunciation Key 
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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