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3. bog down

bog down

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bog down

to become encumbered and slow. (As if one were walking through a bog and getting stuck in the mud. Often preceded by a form of get.) The process bogged down and almost stopped. The truck got bogged down in the mud soon after it started.

See also: bog, down

bog down somebody/something

also bog somebody/something down

to cause someone or something to stop developing or moving forward The film bogs down after a really great beginning.

Etymology: based on the idea of being trapped in a bog (area of soft, wet earth)

See also: bog, down

bog down

Become stuck, be unable to progress, as in Their research bogged down because they lacked the laboratory expertise. This expression transfers sinking into the mud of a swamp to being hampered or halted. [First half of 1900s]

See also: bog, down