swamp
Americannoun
-
swamps
plural
verb (used with object)
-
swamps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swamped,
past participle, past
-
swamping
present participle
-
to flood or drench with water or the like.
-
Nautical. to sink or fill (a boat) with water.
-
to plunge or cause to sink in or as if in a swamp.
-
to overwhelm, especially to overwhelm with an excess of something.
He swamped us with work.
-
to render helpless.
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to remove trees and underbrush from (a specific area), especially to make or cleave a trail (often followed byout ).
-
to trim (felled trees) into logs, as at a logging camp or sawmill.
verb (used without object)
-
swamps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swamped,
past participle, past
-
swamping
present participle
-
to fill with water and sink, as a boat.
-
to sink or be stuck in a swamp or something likened to a swamp.
-
to be plunged into or overwhelmed with something, especially something that keeps one busy, worried, etc.
noun
verb
-
to drench or submerge or be drenched or submerged
-
nautical to cause (a boat) to sink or fill with water or (of a boat) to sink or fill with water
-
to overburden or overwhelm or be overburdened or overwhelmed, as by excess work or great numbers
we have been swamped with applications
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to sink or stick or cause to sink or stick in or as if in a swamp
-
(tr) to render helpless
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
swampsimple
-
swampssimple
-
have swampedperfect
-
has swampedperfect
-
am swampingprogressive
-
are swampingprogressive
-
is swampingprogressive
-
have been swampingperfect progressive
-
has been swampingperfect progressive
Past
-
swampedsimple
-
had swampedperfect
-
was swampingprogressive
-
were swampingprogressive
-
had been swampingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swamp
First recorded in 1615–25; from Dutch zwamp “creek, fen”; akin to sump and to Middle Low German swamp, Old Norse svǫppr “sponge”
Explanation
A swamp is an area that floods every year because the land is low. Watch out for alligators if you visit Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, the largest swamp in the United States. Anyone who has spent time in a busy restaurant kitchen has heard harried chefs cry, "I'm in the weeds!" Such people are in a different kind of swamp — the challenging environment in which too many things need to be done in too short a time. Another way of saying this is, "I'm swamped." Here swamp is a verb that describes being stuck in a seemingly endless situation — you feel like you're stuck in the squishy mud of a real swamp.
Vocabulary lists containing swamp
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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Physical Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Let’s take a wade into the ever-deepening swamp.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
Authorities say the plane was on a routine mission from Benin City to Lagos when it came down in a swamp near a naval base on Monday morning.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
She said someone who went fishing in the swamp alerted the nearby naval base and people in the town about the crash.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Ever since, lawyers for industrial interests and environmental groups have debated exactly how watery some swamp or creek must be to qualify for protection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
I guess that’s true, but I’ve come to this swamp for months now, every single day after school, and I’ve never seen anyone else way out here, much less Sandy Sanders.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
The world-renowned site features iron carbonate concretions that formed some 309 million years ago, fossilizing within them ancient creatures that had once thrived in the area's lush swamps, shallow seas and river deltas.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
To conduct the study, Koparde and his team had to hike to remote locations and through difficult terrain, like moss-covered riverbanks and mangrove swamps.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
Water was scarce; wetlands and lakes turned into swamps through soil erosion and overuse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
If you’re new to her work, here is where to start with Groff’s sprawling canon, which spans from steamy Florida swamps to medieval abbeys with a gift for the unexpected.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
There, the sea breeze blew many away, but here, amongst the still air of the swamps they swarmed close and tore at them, a misery of biting insects.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
For every one-of-a-kind miracle who turns into Lamine Yamal there are thousands who get swamped by expectations and never break through.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Hydropower worker Surendra Dowluri, 33, from India's Andhra Pradesh state, described how raging water swamped the Upper Trishuli-1 site, where he was working.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
I was not surprised by recent news that online classes have become swamped by artificial intelligence cheating, eroding academic integrity.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"Women get swamped with messages, so any woman who messaged me showed real interest," they said.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
But the second wave easily overtopped a flood barrier and swamped all six.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
Study suggests two underwater faults could each generate 7.1 quakes, swamping areas near shore with 30-foot waves.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
He began gaining renown as a lawyer in an era when asbestos cases were swamping the U.S. courts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
With more than a billion internet users, India is grappling with AI-generated disinformation swamping social media.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
"If a tidal wave of Chinese exports ends up swamping those markets and damaging employment and jobs … that's a massive diplomatic and geopolitical headache for the Chinese leadership."
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2025
Poor Mohammed, he thought, all his brothers and sisters swamping him.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
