bog

1
[ bog, bawg ]
See synonyms for: bogboggedbogging on Thesaurus.com

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

  2. an area or stretch of such ground.

verb (used with or without object),bogged, bog·ging.
  1. to sink in or as if in a bog (often followed by down): We were bogged down by overwork.

Verb Phrases
  1. bog in, Australian Slang. to eat heartily and ravenously.

Origin of bog

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

Other words from bog

  • boggish, adjective

Other definitions for bog (2 of 2)

bog2
[ bog, bawg ]

nounUsually bogs. British Slang.
  1. a lavatory; bathroom.

Origin of bog

2
1780–90; probably shortening of bog-house; compare bog to defecate, boggard (16th century) privy, of obscure origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bog in a sentence

  • In crossing a wide crevasse, the sledge became bogged in the soft snow of a drift which had a deceptive appearance of solidity.

    The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas Mawson
  • Conal had tried to cross it once in the summer and got bogged there, losing a score of fine beasts.

    The Pioneers | Katharine Susannah Prichard
  • But Ive marked the last place e bogged down into, an if e just pokes a nose out once more, ell get it in the neck for keeps.

    Grapes of wrath | Boyd Cable
  • The men had not known that the village was occupied and had bogged down almost at the same time that the Turks opened fire.

    War in the Garden of Eden | Kermit Roosevelt
  • There was not the slightest chance of moving the fighting cars; they were bogged down to the axle.

    War in the Garden of Eden | Kermit Roosevelt

British Dictionary definitions for bog

bog

/ (bɒɡ) /


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

  2. an area of such ground

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

  2. a slang word for lavatory (def. 1)

  3. Australian slang the act or an instance of defecating

Origin of bog

1
C13: from Gaelic bogach swamp, from bog soft

Derived forms of bog

  • boggy, adjective
  • bogginess, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for bog

bog

[ 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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.