Definition of "swamp"

swamp

/swɒmp/

noun
plural swamps
1. A piece of wet, spongy land; low ground saturated with water; soft, wet ground which may have a growth of certain kinds of trees, but is unfit for agricultural or pastoral purposes.
2. A type of wetland that stretches for vast distances, and is home to many creatures which have adapted specifically to that environment.
3. (figurative) A place or situation that is foul or where progress is difficult.
  Quotations
  We two...in this swamp of iniquity...together we can bring redress to an unjust world.
  2017, Cassandra Clark, Alchemist of Netley Abbey
verb
third-person singular simple present swamps, present participle swamping, simple past and past participle swamped
1. To drench or fill with water.
2. (figurative) To overwhelm; to make too busy, or overrun the capacity of.
  Quotations
  "I'm being swamped now with calls from parents and young people who are upset that there are not many options for employment this summer," he said.
  1991 May 5, Stewart Ain, “Bottom Falls Out Of Summer Job Market”, in The New York Times‎
  Mr. Spitzer’s defeat of his Democratic opponent […] ended a primary season in which Hillary Rodham Clinton swamped an antiwar challenger for renomination to the Senate.
  2006 September 13, Patrick Healy, “Spitzer and Clinton Win in N.Y. Primary”, in The New York Times‎
  It was only the outstanding Cech that stood between Arsenal and a second-half rout as Spurs simply swamped their opponents after the break with a formidable display of power, pace and sheer intensity.
  2018 February 10, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 0 Arsenal”, in BBC‎
3. (figurative) To plunge into difficulties and perils; to overwhelm; to ruin; to wreck.
  Quotations
  The Whig majority of the house of Lords was swamped by the creation of twelve Tory peers.
  1874, John Richard Green, A Short History of the English People
  Having swamped himself in following the ignis fatuus of a theory […]
  c. 1835, William Hamilton, “Metaphysics and Moral Science”, in Edinburgh Review

Definition of "swamp"

swamp

noun

Quotations

verb

Quotations

Quotations