Serbonian

American  

[ser-boh-nee-uhn] / sərˈboʊ ni ən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designating the large marshy tract of land in the northern part of ancient Egypt in which entire armies are said to have been swallowed up.

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Etymology

Origin of Serbonian

1660–70; < Greek Serbōní ( s ) ( límnē ) Serbonian (marsh) + -an

Example Sentences

That avenue was nicknamed “the great Serbonian bog.”

From The New Yorker • Jan. 19, 2017

If we continue to shape our conduct on that assumption we may find ourselves one day in a Serbonian bog from which there is no rescue.

From England and Germany by Hughes, William Morris

The engineer himself was declared to have been swallowed up in the Serbonian bog; and “railways were at an end for ever!”

From Lives of the Engineers The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson by Smiles, Samuel

The census report of 1860, as compared with that of 1870, is as the Serbonian bog to a well-appointed lawn.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. July, 1878. by Various

How the Four Gospels Originated The origin of the Gospels has proved a Serbonian bog, in which many writers who have attempted an explanation have floundered without finding solid ground.

From The Christ Of Paul Or, The Enigmas of Christianity by Reber, George