salt marsh

American  

noun

1. a marshy tract that is wet with salt water or flooded by the sea.

---

salt marsh British  

noun

1. an area of marshy ground that is intermittently inundated with salt water or that retains pools or rivulets of salt or brackish water, together with its characteristic halophytic vegetation

---

salt marsh Scientific  

1. A marsh in which the water is saline, especially a coastal wetland that has halophyte vegetation and is regularly flooded at high tide. Coastal salt marshes help to preserve the shoreline by accommodating storm tides.

---

Other Word Forms

• salt-marsh adjective
• saltmarsh adjective

Etymology

Origin of salt marsh

before 1000; Middle English saltmerche, Old English sealtne mersc

Example Sentences

She said it would previously have been a "lush salt marsh" full of plants which would have attracted animals and, in turn, humans - possibly for fishing or hunting.

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

EDF then suggested a plan to flood 1,500 acres of nearby coast to create a salt marsh breeding ground to offset any fish death.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

Birds flock here for the blend of the estuary, mud flats, open saltwater and salt marsh.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 10, 2024

What was once a landfill is now home to a large sports field, an ecological salt marsh, a dog run, a boardwalk, manicured lawns and Manhattan’s first public beach.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2023

The glory spread, the salt marsh growing visible below.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White