淤泥 (yū ní) — silt, sludge (deposited mud that settles in water); (figurative) mire, quagmire (a difficult situation one is stuck in)

Definition

Examples

• 河水退去后，河床上留下了厚厚的一层淤泥。
  Hé shuǐ tuì qù hòu, hé chuáng shàng liú xià le hòu hòu de yī céng yū ní.
  After the river receded, a thick layer of silt was left on the riverbed.
• 工地上的工人正在用设备清理地基里的淤泥。
  Gōng dì shàng de gōng rén zhèng zài yòng shè bèi qīng lǐ dì jī lǐ de yū ní.
  Workers at the construction site are using equipment to clear the sludge from the foundation.
• 他不希望自己陷入淤泥般的困境之中。
  Tā bù xī wàng zì jǐ xiàn rù yū ní bān de kùn jìng zhī zhōng.
  He didn't want to find himself in a quagmire-like predicament.

Origin