Definition
淤泥 (yūní) refers specifically to silt or sludge that settles in water — a wet, fine sediment. It's narrower than 泥 (ní, general mud/clay) or 泥土 (nítǔ, soil/earth). Its figurative sense 'quagmire' (a sticky, hard-to-escape situation) overlaps with 泥潭 (nítán), but 淤泥 emphasizes the sediment origin while 泥潭 focuses on the bog itself.
noun
siltsludge (deposited mud that settles in water)(figurative) mirequagmire (a difficult situation one is stuck in)
Examples
- ，淤泥。Hé shuǐ tuì qù hòu, hé chuáng shàng liú xià le hòu hòu de yì céng yū ní.After the river receded, a thick layer of silt was left on the riverbed.
- 淤泥。Gōngdì shàng de gōngrén zhèngzài yòng shèbèi qīnglǐ dìjī lǐ de yū ní.Workers at the construction site are using equipment to clear the sludge from the foundation.
- 淤泥。Tā bù xīwàng zìjǐ xiànrù yū ní bān de kùnjìng zhī zhōng.He didn't want to find himself in a quagmire-like predicament.
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