wetland

[wet-land]

noun

1. Often wetlands. land that has a wet and spongy soil, as a marsh, swamp, or bog.

wetland

/ ˈwɛtlənd /

noun

1. (sometimes plural)

   1. an area of swampy or marshy land, esp considered as part of an ecological system

   2. ( as modifier )

      wetland species

wetland

1. A low-lying area of land that is saturated with moisture, especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife. Marshes, swamps, and bogs are examples of wetlands.

2. See more at lacustrine marine palustrine riverine

Word History and Origins

Origin of wetland¹

First recorded in 1770–80; wet + -land

A Closer Look

Wetlands are areas such as swamps, bogs, and marshes where water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface, particularly in the root zone, at least a good portion of the year, including the growing season. In the past, wetlands were generally considered unproductive or undesirable lands—smelly and unhealthful, a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests—and many were filled in to create farmland or to develop land for housing and industrial use. More than half of the original wetlands in the continental United States have disappeared in the name of reclamation, disease prevention, and flood control. Scientists now realize that, far from being noxious barrens, wetlands play a key role in the ecosystem. They act as filters, removing pollutants, including metals, from waters. They serve as reservoirs, and they aid flood and erosion control by absorbing excess water. Wetlands are home to a great variety of plant and animal species, some endangered, that have evolved to live in the wetland's unique conditions. The preservation and, where possible, restoration of these vital habitats has become a primary goal of environmentalists around the world.

Example Sentences

Eel populations are falling worldwide, scientists say, largely due to factors linked to human activity such as the pollution of waterways, destruction of wetlands, hydroelectric dams, and fishing.

Read more on Barron's

EPA—that cleaned up prior judicial messes and reined in the feds by stripping its claim to any “significant nexus” to navigable waters and tightening the definition of wetlands.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Researchers studying peatlands found that abrupt movements in the Southern Westerly Winds 15,000 years ago set off a large expansion of these wetland systems.

Read more on Science Daily

They’re a little large for me, and they feel like a wetland inside.

Read more on Literature

It has long been overused, with so much water taken out that for decades the river has seldom met the sea, transforming once-vast wetlands in Mexico into stretches of dry sand.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bog 
• glade