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QUAGMIBB.
Quagmire (kwae-gmaiej). [app. f. QUAG s6.
or v. 1
(but evidenced a little earlier) + MIRE.
Numerous synonyms, with a first element of similar
form, were in use in the l6th and 171)1 cents., as
qua-, quab-, quad-, quake-, qua!-, quave-, quawmire,
which will be found in their alphabetical
places : cf. also bog-, gog- and wag-mire. The
precise relationship of these to each other is not
clear : all, or most, may be independent attempts to
express the same idea (cf. etym. note to QUAKE v.).}
1. A piece of wet and boggy ground, too soft to
sustain the weight of men or the larger animals ;
a quaking bog a ; fen, marsh.
1579-80 NORTH Plutarch (1676) 530 There was a certain
quagmire before him, that ran with a swift running stream.
1610 ROWLANDS Martin Mark-all 26 They come to bogs
and quagmyres, much like to them in Ireland. ifi^S Surv.
Ajff. Nethtrl. 120 [Holland isj the greatest Hogg of Europe,
and Quagmire of Christendom. 1756 C. LUCAS Ess. Waters
II. 131 The quagmire being pierced .. is found no where
above two feet deep. 1838 PRESCOTT Fera. Hi Is. (1846) III.
xiv. 121 The excessive rains., had converted the whole
country into a mere quagmire. i88a OUIDA Mareitiura I.
47 To reach the mountain crest without sinking miserably
in a quagmire.
Comb. 1611 COTCR., Afollasse,.. quagmire-like.
2.
trans/, andy?^. a. Anything soft, flabby, or
yielding.
1635 QUARLES EmU. i. xii. (1718) 50 Thy flesh a trembling
bog, a quagmire full of humours, a 1704 T. BROWN Praise
Poverty Wks. 1730 I. 100 The rich are corpulent, drown'd
in foggy quagmires of fat and dropsy. 1822-34 Gomfs
Study Meit. (ed. 4) IV. 488 The indurated patches seem, in
some cases, to be fixed upon a quagmire of offensive fluid.
b. A position or situation from which extrica-
tion is difficult.
'775 SHERIDAN Rivals in. I have followed iv, Cupid's
Jaclc-a-lantern, and find my self in a quagmire at last. 1851
BRIGHT Sf., Eccl. Titles Bill 12 May, The noble Lord . . is
in a quagmire, and he knows it well. 1873 HAMERTON
Inlcll. Life v. ii. (1875) 178 Many a fine intellect has been
driven into the deep quagmire.
Hence Qua-g-mire v., in pass,
to be sunk or
stuck in a quagmire ; also Jig. f Qua'gmirist,
one who makes a quagmire of himself. Qua- jfmiry
a., of the nature of a quagmire ; boggy.
1637 WINTHROP New Eng. (1825) I. 233 A most hideous
swamp, so thick with bushes and so quagmiry [etc.]. 1655
R. YOUNGE Agst. Drunkards 4 These drunken drones, these
gut-mongers, these Quagmirists. 1701 Laconics 120 (L.)
When a reader has been quagmired in a dull heavy book.
1846 LANDOR Imag. Conv. Wks. II. 42 A man is never
quagmired till he stops.
t Quagswag, v. 06s. rare -'.
[f. QUAG and
SWAG, both used by Cotgr. in rendering F. brimbaler^
intr. To shake to and fro.
1653 URQUHART Rabelais 11. xi. 78 Advised her not to put
her selfe into the hazard of quagswagging in the Lee.
Quahaug, quahog (kwahji-g, kwg-h^g). U.S.
Also quail-, quohog. [Narraganset Indian, given
by Roger Williams as poquauhock: -k or -g is
the plural ending in Algonquian tongues.] The
common round clam (Venus mercenarid) of the
Atlantic coast of North America = : HEN sb. 6.
[1643 R. WILLIAMS Key Lang. Amer. 107 Poquauhock,
this the English call Hens, a little thick shel-fish, which the
Indians wade deepe and dive for.] 1828 in WEBSTER. 1851
MELVILLE Whale xiv. 70 They first caught crabs and quohogs
in the sand. 1881 Scritner's Mag. XXII. 656/1 So
seemingly impregnable a victim [of the star-fish] as the
1882 Standard 26 Sept. 2/1 In every hotel bill of
Siahaug
re the clam or quahog . . figures in a variety of shapes.
Quahte, obs. pa. t. of QUETCH v. Quahis,
obs. f. WHOSE. Quai, variant of QUAY.
Quaich, quaigh (kw^x). Sc. Forms : a. 7-8
quech, 7, 9 queich, 8- quegh, 9 quaigh, quaioh,
(quoioh). 0. 8 quaff, queff, coif. [a. Gael.
ctiach cup, Olr. ctiach, prob. ad. L. caucus (Gr.
xavKa), whence also W. cawg. The /3-forms are
peculiar, as there is no general tendency in Sc. to
substitute/ for cA.] A kind of shallow drinkingcup
formerly common in Scotland, usually made
of small wooden staves hooped together and having
two ears or handles, but sometimes fitted with
a silver rim, or even made entirely of that metal.
o. 1673 Act: Bit. Sir y. Foulis (1894) 14 A quech weighting
18 unce and 10 drop. 1697 in
fny.
Scott. N. z-Zelandiz)
is almost extinct.
sj. . E. E. Allit. P. B. 1084, I stod as stylle as dased
quayle. c 1386 CHAUCER Clerk's T. 1150 Thou shalt make
him couche as doth a quaille.
1444 Pot. Poems (Rolls) II.
219 Geyn Phebus uprist syngen wyl the quaylle. 1535
COVERDALE Exod. xvi. 13 At euen the quayles came vp.
Ps. civ. 40 At their desyre, there came quales. 1553
W. WATREMAN Fardlt Facions l. v. 53 Quail), and mallard,
are not but for the richer sorte. 1601 SIR W. CORNWALLIS
Ess. H. (1631) 284 The fighting game at Quailes was
Anthonies overthrowe. 1684 OTWAY Atheist i.
i, Do you
di.spi.se your own Manna, .and long after Quails? 1727-46
THOMSON Summer 1657 While the quail clamours for his
running mate. 1774 GOLDSM. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 212 The
quail is by all known to be a bird of passage. 1846 STOKES
Disc. Australia II. vii. 259 It is known to the colonists as
the Painted Quail. 1870 MORRIS Earthly Par. III. iv. 296
Close within the long grass lies the quail.
2. dial. a. The corn-crake. (First quot. dub.)
1470 HENRYSON Mor. Fab. vm. (Preach. Swallow) xxiii,
The quailje craikand in the corne. 1881 Leicest. Gloss.,
Quail, the land-rail or corn-crake.
b. The small spotted water-hen.
17*6 PENNANT Brit. Zool. (1768) II. 504 In Lincolnshire it
is known by the name of quail.
3. One of several American gallinaceous birds
resembling the European quail, esp. the Virginian
Quail or colin (Orlyx virginianus}, and the Cali-
fornian or Crested Quail (Lophortyx californicus).
1817-* COBBETT Resid. US. (1822) 43, Chickens .. as big
as American Partridges (misnamed quails). 1840 Penny
Cycl. XVII. 440 Ortyx Virginianus, ..the. Quail of the
inhabitants of New England, the Partridge of the Pennsylvanians.
1861 G. F. BERKELEY Sfortsm. W. Prairies xi.
185 A brace of what the Americans call quail.
t 4. Jig. A courtesan. Obs. (So F. caille coiffie.)
An allusion to the supposed amorous disposition of the
bird : see the passages cited by Nares.
x6ofi SHAKS. Tr. ff Cr. v. i. 57 Heere's Agamemnon,., one
that loues Quails. 1694 MOTTEUX Rabelais iv. Prol.
(1737) 83 Several coated Quails, and lac'd Mutton.
B. attrib. and Comb., as quail-basket, -feeding,
fight, -fighter, -fighting, -net, -pit, -potage, etc. ;
quail-surfeited adj.; quail-call = QUAIL-PIPE;
quail-dove, a dove of the West Indies and Florida
(Starncenas cyanocephalus) ; quail-hawk, a New
Zealand species of falcon ; quail-pigeon, a pigeon
of the genus Geophaps; quail-snipe, a South
American plover of the genus Thinocorys. Also
QUAIL-PIPE.
basket. 1822 D.
1398 FLORIO, Quagliere, . . a *quaile
BOOTH Analyt. Diet. i. 99 A Quailpipe or *Quailcall. 1884
Encycl. Brit. XX. 147/1 In old days they were taken in
England in a net, attracted thereto by means of a Quail call.
i8o T. MITCHELL Aristoph. I. p. Ixiii, When a mania took
place in Athens . . for 'quail-feeding or philosophy. 1581
MULCASTER Positions xviii. (1887) 78 Cokfights and 'quaile-
fightes. 1836-48 B. D. WALSH Aristoph., Acharnians I.
iv. note , The Athenians . .were great cock-fighters and
*quailfighters.
1776 GOLDSM. Nat. Hist. (1790) V. 214 "Quailfighting
was a favourite amusement among the Athenians. 1873
BULLER Birds N. Zeal. (1888) I.
217 The *Quail-Hawk
exhibits great perseverance in pursuit of its prey. 1598
FLORIO, Quagliera, a *quaile-neu 1879 MRS. A. E. JAMES
Ind.Househ. Managem. 56 Quails, .kept in your own quailpit
and well fed. 17*5 BRADLEY Fant. J)ict.s.\. Quail, You
may also have a *Quail-Potage
in the Form of an Oil.
1640 G. DANIEL Trittarch.,Hcn. V, cxxv, And hang a Nose
to Leekes, *Quaile-Surfetted.
Quail (kw^l), w.l Forms : 5-6 quayll, 5-7
quayle, (5 whayle), quaile, 6-7 quale, 7 quaille,
6- quail. See also QUEAL. [Of uncertain origin.
The early spelling and rimes prove a ME. quailen
(with diphthongal at), for which there is no obvious
source. Phonology, sense, and date are against
any connexion with early ME. quelen QUELE.
In literary use the word is very common from about 1520
to 1650, after which it practically disappears until its revival,
app. by Scott, in the early part of the igth c.J
I. intr.
1. Of material things, as persons, plants, etc. :
To decline from a natural or flourishing condition ;
to fail or give way ; to fade, wither, etc. Obs.
exc. dial.
c 1440 CAPGRAVE Life St. Kath. iv. 1775 Ewery thyng..
that maketh resistens Ageyn nature, ful soone wil it quayle.
1460 G. ASHBY Dicta Philos. 1071 Better were a thing
never to [be] had Than in handes to quaile & to be badde.
1568 T. HOWELL Arli. Atnitie (1879) 24 Length of time,
causeth man and beast to quaile. 1579 SPENSER Sheflt.
Cal. Nov. 91 The braunch once dead, the budde eke needes
must quaile. 1603 J. RHODES Aiisw. Rom. Rhyme, Sf.
touch. Heretics, Christ's word . . that heaucn and earth
QUAIL.
should quaile, Before his word one iote should faile. a 1796
PEGGE Derbicisms (E. D. S,) }Quai/t toerow ill. 1825 BROCKETT
N. C. Gloss., Quaff, to fail, to fall SICK, to faint. 1879 Miss
JACKSON Shro^sh. iyord-bk. t Quail, to languish ; to fail ; to
fall sick. 1880 Its. Cortiiv. Gloss, s. v., Quail, to wither ;
. ,' These flowers soon quail '.
2. Of immaterial things.
a. Of an action, undertaking, state of things,
etc. : To fail, break down, come to nothing. Obs.
In mod. use (transf, from 3) : To give way, yield
to or before.
c 1440 CAPGRAVE Life S/, Kaik. iv. 1019 Whan moost
nede is, his resons will quayll [v.r. whaylel. 15*3 J/.
Papers Hen. VIIf, VI. 197 Thei fynally concludyd .. ther
shold lack 2 or 3 voyces, wnerby the election shold quayle.
1570 B. GOOGE Pop. Kingd. 11. 23 b, They toyle and moyle
least that his state by talke of tongue should quaile.
1600 HOLLAND Livy v. xxi. 194 After great massaker and
execution committed, the fight began to quaile.
1611 SPEED
Hist, G/. Brit. ix. ix. 23. 585 The Kings Ambassadours
returne out of France, without hauing effected that which
they went about, so that the whole enterprize quailed.
1810 SCOTT Lady of L. u. xxv, Roderick Dhu's renown. .
[should] quail to that of Malcolm Grasme. 1857 MAURICE
Mor. ff Met. Philos. III. iv. 9. 117 The name of William
himself quailed before that of Abelard.
b. Of courage, t hope, t faith, etc. : To fail,
give way, become faint or feeble.
1557 POLE in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. App. Ixviii.
246 The faythe of the sacraments began to quayle in
so many hartes. a 1577 GASCOIGNE Flowers Wks. 1869 I.
43 Since courage quayles, and commes behind, Go sleepe.
1606 BRYSKETT Civ. Life 89 If. .the hope began to quaile,
forthwith courage failed withall. 1641 ROGERS Naantan
408, I perceiue your zeale quales shrewdly in this Laodicean
age. 1835 THIRLWALL Greece I. vi. 212 Perils, which make
the courage of the hardiest quail.
3. Of : persons To lose heart, be cowed or dis-
couraged ; to give way through fear (to or before
a formidable person or thing).
1555 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721)
III. App.
xliii. 122
He made them this faithful promise to the intent that they
should not quaile. 1577-87 HOLINSHED Chron. III. 1212/1
The comming forward of these forces caused the rebels, .to
quaile in courage. 1604 T. WRIGHT Passions i. vi. 23
BYI
1874 GREEN Short Hist. iii. . 137 The Earl of Chester. .
who had risen in armed rebellion, quailed before the march
of Hubert.
b. Of the heart or spirit ; also of the eyes.
1563 Homilies u. Repentance i. (1859) 53 1 Mens hearts do
quail and faint, if they once perceive that they travail in
vaine. 1600 HOLLAND Ltvy xxxvi. ix. 924 Seeing many of
the defendants, .hurt and wounded, their hearts began to
quaile. 1611 SHAKS. Cymb. v. v. 140 Thy daughter For
whom my heart drops blood, and my false spirils Quaile to
remember. 1837 W. IRVING Capt. Bonnemlle\\. 225 [They]
felt their hearts quailing under their multiplied hardships.
1841 BORROW Zincalil. i. i. 26 Their sharp eyes quailed
quickly before his savage glances. 1892 J. TAIT Mind in
Mattered, 3) 249 In Gethsemane, the brave spirit of Jesus
quailed.
U. trans.
*t*4. To affect injuriously, to spoil, impair; to
overpower, destroy, put an end to. Obs. a. a thing.
1551 GARDINER Explic. Cath. Faiih % Of the Presence 60
The truthe of that place hindreth and qualeth in maner all
the booke. 1604 T. WRIGHT Climact. Years n Nature in
the meane time is strengthened with good foods, and the
humour either purged or quailed with phisicke. 1655
H. VAUGHAN Silex Scint. u. Time's Book iv, As some meek
night-piece which day quails To candle light unveils. 1669
BOYLE Cent. New Exp. n. (1682) 66 The Apricocks were
flaccid or quailed as if
they
had been dry or withered.
absol. 1590 SHAKS. Mids. N. D. v. L 292 O Fates ! . . Cut
thred and thrum, Quaile, crush, conclude, and quell.
b. an action, state, quality, feeling, etc.
1531 MoREC