quicksand Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a treacherous situation that tends to entrap and destroy
  2. noun a pit filled with loose wet sand into which objects are sucked down

WordNet

Quick"sand` noun
Definitions
  1. Sand easily moved or readily yielding to pressure; especially, a deep mass of loose or moving sand mixed with water, sometimes found at the mouth of a river or along some coasts, and very dangerous, from the difficulty of extricating a person who begins sinking into it.
    Life hath quicksands, -- Life hath snares! Longfellow.

Webster 1913