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.
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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
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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
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swampssimple
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have swampedperfect
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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:
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
She and her dancers arrived onstage painted in hot pink, the swamp princess’ hair fashioned into high pigtails.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
The former swamp, made muddy by recent rains, is a natural deterrent for potential invaders.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
The remains came from both native and introduced animals, including cows, kangaroos, emus, sheep, pigs, dingoes, rabbits, possums, quolls and swamp rats.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
But he was remembering a walk with Toomer in the black-gum swamp of St. Catherine’s Island when Toomer had come across the track of a large Eastern Diamondback rattler.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Rivers is one of several states that make up the southern Niger Delta region, a vast area of swamps and wetlands with huge reserves of oil and gas along Nigeria's coast.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
From the serene heights of the foreign-policy establishment to the fever swamps of the online left and right, a consensus has emerged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
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
That figure swamps the second-place service, Disney, with only a 10% share.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025
In some future installment, a flashback, I shall perhaps recount that pilgrimage through the swamps, a journey into the desert from which I returned broken physically, mentally, and spiritually.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Hydropower worker Surendra Dowluri, 33, from India's Andhra Pradesh state, described how raging water swamped the Upper Trishuli-1 site, where he was working.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
But as the pandemic wore on and e-commerce boomed, the industry became swamped and additional small- to mid-size carriers entered the market.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 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
Three hours into the tour, investigators alleged Hernandez-Umana attempted to speed through swell during a U-turn and swamped the bow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
That year the small group of town children were swamped temporarily by a collection of elderly pupils shipped in from Old Sarum because somebody had set fire to the school there.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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
“Rashomon” begins in that torrential downpour, swamping the men who huddle for shelter beneath the pillars of the ancient gate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
"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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
