swamp

[swomp]

noun

1. 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)

1. to flood or drench with water or the like.

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

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

4. to overwhelm, especially to overwhelm with an excess of something.

   He swamped us with work.

5. to render helpless.

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

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

verb (used without object)

1. to fill with water and sink, as a boat.

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

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

swamp

/ swɒmp /

noun

1. 1. permanently waterlogged ground that is usually overgrown and sometimes partly forested Compare marsh

   2. ( as modifier )

      swamp fever

verb

1. to drench or submerge or be drenched or submerged

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

3. to overburden or overwhelm or be overburdened or overwhelmed, as by excess work or great numbers

   we have been swamped with applications

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

5. (tr) to render helpless

swamp

1. An area of low-lying wet or seasonally flooded land, often having trees and dense shrubs or thickets.

Other Word Forms

• swampish adjective
• underswamp noun
• swampy adjective
• swampless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of swamp¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from Dutch zwamp “creek, fen”; akin to sump and to Middle Low German swamp, Old Norse svǫppr “sponge”

Word History and Origins

Origin of swamp¹

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

Example Sentences

Mr Demape says he struggled to find a petrol station that was not swamped with long queues.

From BBC

Opponents of Proposition 50, who have been swamped in fundraising by their rivals, seized upon the error as proof that the measure was hastily placed on the ballot.

From Los Angeles Times

Recruiters feel while graduates may swamp big employers with applications, some regional companies say they face a "skills shortage" in some sectors because of a lack of applicants.

From BBC

You’ll find “vegetable casserole,” a swamp of canned onions, frozen peas and carrots, cream of celery soup and a splash of milk.

From Salon

Thousands of people queued outside polling stations on Tuesday to vote for a president, MPs and local councillors, keenly hoping to effect change in a country swamped by economic troubles.

From BBC

Related Words

• beset 
• besiege 
• drench 
• drown 
• engulf 
• inundate 
• overcrowd 
• overflow 
• overload 
• saturate 
• sink 
• submerge 
• wash