bog

¹ American  

[bog, bawg] / bɒg, bɔg /

noun

1. wet, spongy ground with soil composed mainly of decayed vegetable matter.

2. an area or stretch of such ground.

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verb (used with or without object)

bogged, bogging

1. to sink in or as if in a bog (often followed bydown ).

   We were bogged down by overwork.

verb phrase

1. bog in to eat heartily and ravenously.

bog ² American  

[bog, bawg] / bɒg, bɔg /

noun

British Slang.

1. a lavatory; bathroom.

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bog British  

/ bɒɡ /

noun

1. wet spongy ground consisting of decomposing vegetation, which ultimately forms peat

2. an area of such ground

3. a place or thing that prevents or slows progress or improvement

4. a slang word for lavatory

5. slang the act or an instance of defecating

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bog Scientific  

/ bôg /

1. An area of wet, spongy ground consisting mainly of decayed or decaying peat moss (sphagnum) and other vegetation. Bogs form as the dead vegetation sinks to the bottom of a lake or pond, where it decays slowly to form peat. Peat bogs are important to global ecology, since the undecayed peat moss stores large amounts of carbon that would otherwise be released back into the atmosphere. Global warming may accelerate decay in peat bogs and release more carbon dioxide, which in turn may cause further warming.

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Other Word Forms

• bogginess noun
• boggish adjective
• boggy adjective

Etymology

Origin of bog¹

1495–1505; < Irish or Scots Gaelic bogach soft ground ( bog soft + -ach noun suffix); bog ¹ ( def. 4 ) perhaps a different word

Origin of bog²

1780–90; probably shortening of bog-house; compare bog to defecate, boggard (16th century) privy, of obscure origin

Explanation

You'd be pretty soggy by morning if you accidentally set your tent up in a bog. A bog is a swampy kind of ground made up mostly of decomposing plants and mosses. Nothing can be built on a bog because the ground is so spongy and damp, and no crops can be grown there. The dried soil from a bog can, however, be dried and burned for fuel. A figurative bog is anything that you tend to get stuck in, like a bog of health problems. Things can also "bog you down", or slow you down literally or figuratively, like when your homework bogs you down so you can't enjoy the weekend.

Example Sentences

A Bronze Age shield found in a peat bog has been returned to Scotland for the first time in more than 230 years.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Even as they profess admiration for one another’s work, Ruth, Jay and Leigh sink into a bog of miscommunication and antagonism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Anything would be better than trotting out another bog standard pro sports salute to the troops that year.

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2026

The expedited processing works by stripping away many of the discretionary review processes that typically bog down housing projects: City Council hearings, environmental reports, neighborhood outreach meetings, etc.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

The very plants were unknown to them—pink lousewort with its sprays of hooked flowers, bog asphodel and the thin-stemmed blooms of the sundews, rising above their hairy, fly-catching mouths, all shut fast by night.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Related Words

• lowland
• marshland
• wetlands