swamp: Meaning and Definition of

swamp

Pronunciation: (swomp), [key]
— n.
  1. a tract of wet, spongy land, often having a growth of certain types of trees and other vegetation, but unfit for cultivation.
—v.t.
  1. to flood or drench with water or the like.
  2. to sink or fill (a boat) with water.
  3. to plunge or cause to sink in or as if in a swamp.
  4. to overwhelm, esp. to overwhelm with an excess of something: He swamped us with work.
  5. to render helpless.
  6. to remove trees and underbrush from (a specific area), esp. to make or cleave a trail (often fol. by out).
  7. to trim (felled trees) into logs, as at a logging camp or sawmill.
—v.i.
  1. to fill with water and sink, as a boat.
  2. to sink or be stuck in a swamp or something likened to a swamp.
  3. to be plunged into or overwhelmed with something, esp. something that keeps one busy, worried, etc.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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