swamp

[ swomp ]

/ swɒmp /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR swamp ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a tract of wet, spongy land, often having a growth of certain types of trees and other vegetation, but unfit for cultivation.

verb (used with object)

to flood or drench with water or the like.

Nautical. to sink or fill (a boat) with water.

to plunge or cause to sink in or as if in a swamp.

to overwhelm, especially to overwhelm with an excess of something: He swamped us with work.

to render helpless.

to remove trees and underbrush from (a specific area), especially to make or cleave a trail (often followed by out).

to trim (felled trees) into logs, as at a logging camp or sawmill.

verb (used without object)

to fill with water and sink, as a boat.

to sink or be stuck in a swamp or something likened to a swamp.

to be plunged into or overwhelmed with something, especially something that keeps one busy, worried, etc.

Nearby words

Origin of swamp

1615–25; < Dutch zwamp creek, fen; akin to sump and to Middle Low German swamp, Old Norse svǫppr sponge

Related formsswamp·ish, adjectiveun·der·swamp, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for swamp

Klain is not the first to crawl out of the swamp of Biden World on to the larger stage.
Where There’s Trouble, You’ll Usually Find Joe Biden|Lloyd Green|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When the pioneers reached Toledo it was called “Frogtown” because the place was a swamp.
Toledo: The Town Too Tough for Toxic Water|P. J. O’Rourke|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yeager took the photo while balancing on a raft in a muddy Jamaican swamp.
The Queen of the Playboy Centerfolds|Nina Strochlic|May 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Description: A “swamp cabbage” is a semi-aquatic tropical plant.
Craziest SXSW Band Names: Perfect Pussy, Death By Unga Bunga, and More|Marlow Stern|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Yes, but the dark Justice League—with Swamp Thing, Etrigan, Constantine, Deadman, and others.
Guillermo Del Toro on ‘Cabinet of Curiosities,’ Collaborating with Kanye West, and More|Marlow Stern|November 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A bog or swamp is a most disagreeable place in which to be caught, and calls for calmness to get out without a wetting or fall.
How Women Should Ride|C. De Hurst
The acrobatic youth ran to a big tree growing close to the edge of the swamp.
The Putnam Hall Rebellion|Arthur M. Winfield
Immediately below Tiptonville the swamp for many miles extends entirely to the river.
From Fort Henry to Corinth|Manning Ferguson Force
A plank or fence-rail served as a temporary draw-bridge, which was pulled into the swamp after passing over.
Revolutionary Reader|Sophie Lee Foster
It was also the most dangerous part of the swamp because safe trails were few.
Swamp Cat|James Arthur Kjelgaard

British Dictionary definitions for swamp

swamp

/ (swɒmp) /

noun

permanently waterlogged ground that is usually overgrown and sometimes partly forestedCompare marsh
(as modifier)swamp fever

verb

to drench or submerge or be drenched or submerged

nautical to cause (a boat) to sink or fill with water or (of a boat) to sink or fill with water

to overburden or overwhelm or be overburdened or overwhelmed, as by excess work or great numberswe have been swamped with applications

to sink or stick or cause to sink or stick in or as if in a swamp

(tr) to render helpless

Derived Formsswampish, adjectiveswampless, adjectiveswampy, adjective

Word Origin for swamp

C17: probably from Middle Dutch somp; compare Middle High German sumpf, Old Norse svöppr sponge, Greek somphos spongy

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

Word Origin and History for swamp

swamp

1624 (first used by Capt. John Smith, in reference to Virginia), perhaps a dialectal survival from an Old English cognate of Old Norse svoppr "sponge, fungus," from Proto-Germanic *swampuz; but traditionally connected with Middle English sompe "morass, swamp," probably from Middle Dutch somp or Middle Low German sump "swamp." Related to Old Norse svöppr "sponge." Swamp Yankee "rural, rustic New Englander" is attested from 1941.