marsh gas

noun

1. a gaseous decomposition product of organic matter, consisting primarily of methane.

marsh gas

noun

1. a hydrocarbon gas largely composed of methane formed when organic material decays in the absence of air

Word History and Origins

Origin of marsh gas¹

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85

Example Sentences

I don’t read Swedish, so I’m unsure how to apportion credit for beautiful sentences, but they abound: Snide comments are “tiny puffs of marsh gas.”

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The layer of muck had small holes all over it, where marsh gas breathed out.

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This ‘marsh gas’ is methane, a greenhouse gas that is some 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

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The simplest of these is methane, or marsh gas, which is formed in nature by the bacterial decomposition of organic matter under water.

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It was subject to continual leaks and floods, and suffused with fetid marsh gases that would periodically combust, ignited by the gas lamps that lit the tunnel.

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