Meaning

3 senses

  1. An area of wet (water-saturated), spongy (soft) land, often with trees, generally a rich ecosystem for certain plants and animals but ill-suited for many agricultural purposes. (A type of wetland. Compare marsh, bog, fen.)

    Sumpf, Moor

    боло́тоbolóto, топьtopʹ, тряси́наtrjasína

    боло́тоbolóto

  2. (figuratively)A place or situation that is foul or where progress is difficult.

  3. (US)The alleged corruption, cronyism, inefficiency, and entrenched interests in the federal government, especially in Washington, DC.

More definitions
  • low land that is seasonally flooded; has more woody plants than a marsh and better drainage than a bog
  • a situation fraught with difficulties and imponderables

Examples

86 sentences

  1. I'm swamped with work.

    Роботи - хоч гать гати. — deniko

    ruУ меня работы невпроворот. — Olya

    deIch ersticke in Arbeit. — Zaghawa

    CM · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. We need to cross this swamp.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Tom's body was found in a swamp.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Tom's body was found in the swamp.

    ruТруп Тома был найден в болоте. — Wezel

    deToms Leiche wurde im Sumpf gefunden. — maaster

    Herobane · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Tom is swamped with work.

    deTom erstickt in Arbeit. — Zaghawa

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
type of wetland:
Русский
By meaning 1
type of wetland:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
type of wetland:

Origin

Early attestations (starting in 1624) are from North America, but the term was probably in

Early attestations (starting in 1624) are from North America, but the term was probably in local use in Britain earlier. The etymology is not entirely certain; it is probably a fusion of Middle English swam (“swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh”, also “fungus, mushroom”) — from Old English swamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), from Proto-West Germanic *swamm, from Proto-Germanic *swambaz, *swammaz — and Middle English sompe (“marsh, morass”), from either Middle Dutch somp, sump (“marsh, swamp”) or Middle Low German sump (“marsh, swamp”) (from Old Saxon *sump (“swamp, marsh”)), both from Proto-West Germanic *sump, from Proto-Germanic *sumpaz. *Swambaz, *swammaz and *sumpaz are likely related to each other, but it is unclear whether they are of Indo-European origin or are substrate words or wanderworts.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: swamps
Singularswamp
Pluralswamps

regular

Synonyms

1 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • low land that is seasonally flooded; has more woody plants than a marsh and better drainage than a bog:swampland

Word family

98 related words
RelatedmoorC2mossB1slackC1washA1wetlandB1bogmarshfenbayoucarrevergladelaggmangalmangrovemiremorassmuskegpakihipeat bogpeatlandpocosinquagquagmireslough
Derivedbackswampdata swampfever-swampfood swamppaleoswamppeatswampswampableswamp angelswamp antechinusswamp apeswamp azaleaswamp beaconswamp beggar-ticksswampbillyswamp bluesswamp boatswampbusterswampbustingswamp cancerswamp catswamp cicadaswamp coolerswamp cottonwoodswamp crocodile

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
swaggerswallowA2swampyswanB2swanky

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

swamp — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto