swamp
Americannoun
-
swamps
plural
verb (used with object)
-
swamps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swamped,
past participle, past
-
swamping
present participle
-
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.
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to render helpless.
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to remove trees and underbrush from (a specific area), especially to make or cleave a trail (often followed byout ).
-
to trim (felled trees) into logs, as at a logging camp or sawmill.
verb (used without object)
-
swamps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swamped,
past participle, past
-
swamping
present participle
-
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.
noun
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 numbers
we have been swamped with applications
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to sink or stick or cause to sink or stick in or as if in a swamp
-
(tr) to render helpless
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
swampsimple
-
swampssimple
-
have swampedperfect
-
has swampedperfect
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am swampingprogressive
-
are swampingprogressive
-
is swampingprogressive
-
have been swampingperfect progressive
-
has been swampingperfect progressive
Past
-
swampedsimple
-
had swampedperfect
-
was swampingprogressive
-
were swampingprogressive
-
had been swampingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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”
Explanation
A swamp is an area that floods every year because the land is low. Watch out for alligators if you visit Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, the largest swamp in the United States. Anyone who has spent time in a busy restaurant kitchen has heard harried chefs cry, "I'm in the weeds!" Such people are in a different kind of swamp — the challenging environment in which too many things need to be done in too short a time. Another way of saying this is, "I'm swamped." Here swamp is a verb that describes being stuck in a seemingly endless situation — you feel like you're stuck in the squishy mud of a real swamp.
Vocabulary lists containing swamp
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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Physical Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As I was working on this article, our garbage disposal started leaking swamp water to the tune of $750.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
Ever since, lawyers for industrial interests and environmental groups have debated exactly how watery some swamp or creek must be to qualify for protection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
This 4.5-million-hectare swathe of forest and swamp, under normal conditions, serves as a valuable reservoir for ancient carbon.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Water district officials said the swamp hen was still at the marsh as of Wednesday night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
“You question my talents? A half-dead mortal straggles into my swamp and questions my talents?”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
The world-renowned site features iron carbonate concretions that formed some 309 million years ago, fossilizing within them ancient creatures that had once thrived in the area's lush swamps, shallow seas and river deltas.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
To conduct the study, Koparde and his team had to hike to remote locations and through difficult terrain, like moss-covered riverbanks and mangrove swamps.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
A river stretched along the far horizon, lined with a few reeds growing up from the swamps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
If you’re new to her work, here is where to start with Groff’s sprawling canon, which spans from steamy Florida swamps to medieval abbeys with a gift for the unexpected.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
To the south lay the swamps, covered with an eternal vegetable scum, and the whole vast universe of the great swamp, which, according to what the gypsies said, had no limits.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Normally, rising energy prices could hurt the consumer by eroding inflation-adjusted earnings, but “what’s swamped that is the wealth effect that is coming from the equity market,” said Pathak.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Nepal rescuers are still excavating hydropower tunnels swamped by freezing mud, with hundreds of workers among the missing.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
I was not surprised by recent news that online classes have become swamped by artificial intelligence cheating, eroding academic integrity.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"Women get swamped with messages, so any woman who messaged me showed real interest," they said.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Percy summoned a wave, and the enemy ship was swamped.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Its competitors have accused it of irregular business practices, including winning illegal tax breaks in Kenya and swamping the market with bikes before the battery infrastructure is in place to handle the load.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Study suggests two underwater faults could each generate 7.1 quakes, swamping areas near shore with 30-foot waves.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
He began gaining renown as a lawyer in an era when asbestos cases were swamping the U.S. courts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
"If a tidal wave of Chinese exports ends up swamping those markets and damaging employment and jobs … that's a massive diplomatic and geopolitical headache for the Chinese leadership."
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2025
Waves crashed against it, swamping it for a moment before surging away, leaving it bold and grimly reaching upward.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
