muskeg

American  

[muhs-keg] / ˈmʌs kɛg /

noun

1. a bog of northern North America, commonly having sphagnum mosses, sedge, and sometimes stunted black spruce and tamarack trees.

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muskeg British  

/ ˈmʌsˌkɛɡ /

noun

1. undrained boggy land characterized by sphagnum moss vegetation

   vast areas of muskeg

2. a bog or swamp of this nature

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Etymology

Origin of muskeg

1765–75; < Cree maske·k < Proto-Algonquian *maŝkye·kwi swamp

Example Sentences

He said it was burning along the surface of the ground through the aftermath of the former blaze and had much less fuel, and that muskeg was generating the smoke noticed by locals.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

There are no ATMs, hospitals, banks or grocery stores in this wilderness of taiga, deciduous and muskeg forest.

From Washington Post • Apr. 7, 2016

Will the coordinates direct us to climb steep slopes or traipse through wet muskeg?

From New York Times • Jul. 11, 2012

After a ten-hour day of shoveling gravel and sand to keep the railroad track from sinking into the muskeg, Spock would wipe the sweat from his mustache, wolf a huge supper, and unroll his blackboard.

From Time Magazine Archive

As they rolled down from the forested ridges above the Tanana River, Alex gazed across the expanse of windswept muskeg stretching to the south.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer