Swamp

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Swamp, n. [Cf. AS. swam a fungus, OD. swam a sponge, D. zwam a fungus, G. schwamm a sponge, Icel. svöppr, Dan. & Sw. swamp, Goth. swamms, Gr. somfo`s porous, spongy.].

 Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the seashore.  [1913 Webster]
"Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern."  [1913 Webster]
"A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only herbage, plants, and mosses."  [1913 Webster]

Swamp blackbird. (Zoöl.) See Redwing (b). -- Swamp cabbage (Bot.), skunk cabbage. -- Swamp deer (Zoöl.), an Asiatic deer (Rucervus Duvaucelli) of India. -- Swamp hen. (Zoöl.) (a) An Australian azure-breasted bird (Porphyrio bellus); -- called also goollema. (b) An Australian water crake, or rail (Porzana Tabuensis); -- called also little swamp hen. (c) The European purple gallinule. -- Swamp honeysuckle (Bot.), an American shrub (Azalea viscosa syn. Rhododendron viscosa or Rhododendron viscosum) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called also swamp pink and white swamp honeysuckle. -- Swamp hook, a hook and chain used by lumbermen in handling logs. Cf. Cant hook. -- Swamp itch. (Med.) See Prairie itch, under Prairie. -- Swamp laurel (Bot.), a shrub (Kalmia glauca) having small leaves with the lower surface glaucous. -- Swamp maple (Bot.), red maple. See Maple. -- Swamp oak (Bot.), a name given to several kinds of oak which grow in swampy places, as swamp Spanish oak (Quercus palustris), swamp white oak (Q. bicolor), swamp post oak (Q. lyrata). -- Swamp ore (Min.), bog ore; limonite. -- Swamp partridge (Zoöl.), any one of several Australian game birds of the genera Synoicus and Excalfatoria, allied to the European partridges. -- Swamp robin (Zoöl.), the chewink. -- Swamp sassafras (Bot.), a small North American tree of the genus Magnolia (M. glauca) with aromatic leaves and fragrant creamy-white blossoms; -- called also sweet bay. -- Swamp sparrow (Zoöl.), a common North American sparrow (Melospiza Georgiana, or M. palustris), closely resembling the song sparrow. It lives in low, swampy places. -- Swamp willow. (Bot.) See Pussy willow, under Pussy.

Swamp, v. t. 

•  To plunge or sink into a swamp.  [1913 Webster]
•  To cause (a boat) to become filled with water; to capsize or sink by whelming with water.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: To plunge into difficulties and perils; to overwhelm; to ruin; to wreck.  [1913 Webster]

  "The Whig majority of the house of Lords was swamped by the creation of twelve Tory peers."  [1913 Webster]

  "Having swamped himself in following the ignis fatuus of a theory."  [1913 Webster]

Swamp, v. i. 

•  To sink or stick in a swamp; figuratively, to become involved in insuperable difficulties.  [1913 Webster]
•  To become filled with water, as a boat; to founder; to capsize or sink; figuratively, to be ruined; to be wrecked.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Swamp, n. & v.
--n. a piece of waterlogged ground; a bog or marsh.
--v.
1 a tr. overwhelm, flood, or soak with water. b intr. become swamped.
2 tr. overwhelm or make invisible etc. with an excess or large amount of something.

Derivative

swampy adj. (swampier, swampiest).

Etymology

17th c., = dial. swamp sunk (14th c.), prob. of Gmc orig.

THESAURUS

Swamp

baygall, be prodigal with, bind, bog, bottom, bottomland, bottoms, buffalo wallow, cascade, cataract, cesspool, cloaca, cloaca maxima, clutch, complication, crunch, deluge, dip, drain, drown, duck, dump, dunk, embarrassing position, embarrassment, engulf, everglade, fen, fenland, fine how-do-you-do, float, flood, flood the market, flow on, founder, garbage dump, glade, hell to pay, hobble, hog wallow, holm, hot water, how-do-you-do, imbroglio, immerse, inundate, jam, marais, marish, marsh, marshland, meadow, mere, mess, mire, mix, moor, moorland, morass, moss, mud, mud flat, overbrim, overburden, overcome, overdose, overequip, overflow, overfurnish, overlavish, overload, overprovender, overprovide, overprovision, overrun, oversell, overstock, oversupply, overtax, overwhelm, parlous straits, pass, peat bog, pickle, pinch, plight, pour on, pour out, pour over, predicament, pretty pass, pretty pickle, pretty predicament, purgatory, quag, quagmire, quicksand, rain, run over, salt marsh, scrape, scuttle, septic tank, sewer, shaking, sink, slob land, slop, slosh, slough, sluice, snow under, sough, spill, spill out, spill over, spot, squeeze, stew, sticky wicket, strait, straits, submerge, sump, swale, swampland, sweep, taiga, tight spot, tight squeeze, tightrope, tricky spot, unholy mess, view, wallow, wash, whelm

ROGET THESAURUS

Swamp

Success

VB succeed, be successful, gain one's end, gain one's ends, crown with success, gain a point, attain a point, carry a point, secure a point, win a point, win an object, get there, manage to, contrive to, accomplish, do wonders, work wonders, make a go of it, come off well, come off successful, come off with flying colors, make short work of, take by storm, carry by storm, bear away the bell, win one's wings, win one's spurs, win the battle, win the day, carry the day, gain the day, gain the prize, gain the palm, have the best of it, have it all one's own way, have the game in one's owns hands, have the ball at one's feet, have one on the hop, walk over the course, carry all before one, remain in possession of the field, score a success, speed, make progress, win one's way, make one's way, work one's way, find one's way, strive to some purpose, prosper, drive a roaring trade, make profit, reap the fruits, gather the fruits, reap the benefit of, reap the harvest, strike oil, gain a windfall, make one's fortune, get in the harvest, turn to good account, turn to account, triumph, be triumphant, gain a victory, obtain a victory, gain an advantage, chain victory to one's car, nail a coonskin to the wall, surmount a difficulty, overcome a difficulty, get over a difficulty, get over an obstacle, se tirer d'affaire, make head against, stem the torrent, stem the tide, stem the current, weather the storm, weather a point, turn a corner, keep one's head above water, tide over, master, get the better of, have the better of, gain the better of, gain the best of, gain the upper hand, gain the ascendancy, gain the whip hand, gain the start of, distance, surpass, defeat, conquer, vanquish, discomfit, euchre, overcome, overthrow, overpower, overmaster, overmatch, overset, override, overreach, outwit, outdo, outflank, outmaneuver, outgeneral, outvote, take the wind out of one's adversary's sails, beat, beat hollow, rout, lick, drub, floor, worst, put down, put to flight, put to the rout, put hors de combat, put out of court, silence, quell, nonsuit, checkmate, upset, confound, nonplus, stalemate, trump, baffle, circumvent, elude, trip up, trip up the heels of, drive into a corner, drive to the wall, run hard, put one's nose out of joint, settle, do for, break the neck of, break the back of, capsize, sink, shipwreck, drown, swamp, subdue, subjugate, reduce, make the enemy bite the dust, victimize, roll in the dust, trample under foot, put an extinguisher upon, answer, answer the purpose, avail, prevail, take effect, do, turn out well, work well, take, tell, bear fruit, hit it, hit the mark, hit the right nail on the head, nick it, turn up trumps, make a hit, find one's account in.

Destruction

VB be destroyed, perish, fall to the ground, tumble, topple, go to pieces, fall to pieces, break up, crumble to dust, go to the dogs, go to the wall, go to smash, go to shivers, go to wreck, go to pot, go to wrack and ruin, go by the board, go all to smash, be all over, be all up, be all with, totter to its fall, destroy, do away with, make away with, nullify, annual, sacrifice, demolish, tear up, overturn, overthrow, overwhelm, upset, subvert, put an end to, seal the doom of, do in, do for, dish, undo, break up, cut up, break down, cut down, pull down, mow down, blow down, beat down, suppress, quash, put down, do a job on, cut short, take off, blot out, dispel, dissipate, dissolve, consume, smash, crash, quell, squash, squelch, crumple up, shatter, shiver, batter to pieces, tear to pieces, crush to pieces, cut to pieces, shake to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, laniate, nip, tear to rags, tear to tatters, crush to atoms, knock to atoms, ruin, strike out, throw over, knock down over, fell, sink, swamp, scuttle, wreck, shipwreck, engulf, ingulf, submerge, lay in ashes, lay in ruins, sweep away, erase, wipe out, expunge, raze, level with the dust, level with the ground, waste, atomize, vaporize, deal destruction, desolate, devastate, lay waste, ravage gut, disorganize, dismantle, devour, swallow up, sap, mine, blast, bomb, blow to smithereens, drop the big one, confound, exterminate, extinguish, quench, annihilate, snuff out, put out, stamp out, trample out, lay in the dust, trample in the dust, prostrate, tread under foot, crush under foot, trample under foot, lay the ax to the root of, make short work of, make clean sweep of, make mincemeat of, cut up root and branch, chop into pieces, cut into ribbons, fling to the winds, scatter to the winds, throw overboard, strike at the root of, sap the foundations of, spring a mine, blow up, ravage with fire and sword, cast to the dogs, eradicate.

Marsh

N marsh, swamp, morass, marish, moss, fen, bog, quagmire, slough, sump, wash, mud, squash, slush, baygall, cienaga, jhil, vlei, marsh, marshy, swampy, boggy, plashy, poachy, quaggy, soft, muddy, sloppy, squashy, paludal, moorish, moory, fenny.