swamp

[ swomp ]

/ swɒmp /

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See synonyms for: swamp / swamped 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.

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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

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Origin of swamp

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

OTHER WORDS FROM swamp

swamp·ish, adjectiveun·der·swamp, noun

Words nearby swamp

swallow-tanager, swallowwort, swam, swami, Swammerdam, swamp, swamp andromeda, swamp azalea, swamp boat, swamp buggy, swamp buttonwood

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use swamp in a sentence

Let the friendly hosts, who live on-site, cook you a meal, set you up with fishing gear, or point you to the best local seafood markets and swamp tours.
Our Favorite Hipcamp in Every State|Alison Van Houten|October 1, 2020|Outside Online
They live in the moist and muddy soil of wetlands, swamps, and bogs, and their tunnels can be nearly anywhere in a complex overgrown wilderness.
How to hunt for star-nosed moles (and their holes)|Kenneth Catania|September 15, 2020|Popular-Science
Anaerobic bacteria produce it in places such as sewage, swamps, marshlands, and rice fields, and in the intestines of most animals.
Gas spotted in Venus’s clouds could be a sign of alien life|Neel Patel|September 14, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Anaerobic microbes living in such places as sewage, swamps and the intestinal tracts of animals from penguins to people are the only known life-forms on Earth that produce the molecule.
Phosphine gas found in Venus’ atmosphere may be ‘a possible sign of life’|Lisa Grossman|September 14, 2020|Science News

In some ways, it would be easier to just not care, to be one of those people who see no difference among a park, a swamp and the rim of an active volcano, to be one of those people who is mentally living six months ago.
Every Decision Is A Risk. Every Risk Is A Decision.|Maggie Koerth (maggie.koerth-baker@fivethirtyeight.com)|July 21, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Without any evidence or provocation, she attacks Swamp Thing—and then gets beaten in the only fight she has in the issue.
Wonder Woman Takes a Big Step Back|Hugh Ryan|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Electric Swamp Blues How can you possibly find authentic swamp blues in Portland, Oregon?
The Best Albums of 2014|Ted Gioia|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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
A native brought news that a collector and his wife were hiding in a swamp near the road.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
Two companies deployed over a swamp and went along the beach under cover of the Utah Battery.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
The swamp is more easily accessible from Virginia than from North Carolina.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia|Dorothy M. Torpey
In the campaign in Holland last war, a party marching through a swamp, was ordered to form two deep.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
The road was a bullock track, a swamp of mud amid the larger swamp of the ploughed land and jungle.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy

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 forms of swamp

swampish, 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

Scientific definitions for swamp

swamp

[ swŏmp ]

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

swamp

Origin of swamp

OTHER WORDS FROM swamp

Words nearby swamp

Words related to swamp

How to use swamp in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for swamp

Derived forms of swamp

Word Origin for swamp

Scientific definitions for swamp