1624 (first used by Capt. John Smith, in reference to Virginia), perhaps a dial. survival from an O.E. cognate of O.N. svoppr "sponge, fungus," from P.Gmc. *swampuz; but traditionally connected with M.E. sompe "morass, swamp," probably from M.Du. somp or M.L.G. sump "swamp." Related to O.N. svöppr "sponge." The verb sense of "overwhelm, sink (as if in a swamp)" is first recorded 1772; fig. sense is from 1818. Swamp Yankee "rural, rustic New Englander" is attested from 1941.
Swamp\, n. [Cf. AS. swam a fungus, OD. swam a sponge, D. zwam a fungus, G. schwamm a sponge, Icel. sv["o]ppr, 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. Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern. --Tennyson. A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only herbage, plants, and mosses. --Farming Encyc. (E. Edwards, Words). Swamp blackbird. (Zo["o]l.) See Redwing (b) . Swamp cabbage (Bot.), skunk cabbage. Swamp deer (Zo["o]l.), an Asiatic deer (Rucervus Duvaucelli) of India. Swamp hen. (Zo["o]l.) (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, or Rhododendron, viscosa) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called also swamp pink. 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 (Zo["o]l.), any one of several Australian game birds of the genera Synoicus and Excalfatoria, allied to the European partridges. Swamp robin (Zo["o]l.), 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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. [imp. & p. p. Swamped; p. pr. & vb. n. Swamping.]1. To plunge or sink into a swamp. 2. (Naut.) To cause (a boat) to become filled with water; to capsize or sink by whelming with water. 3. Fig.: To plunge into difficulties and perils; to overwhelm; to ruin; to wreck. The Whig majority of the house of Lords was swamped by the creation of twelve Tory peers. --J. R. Green. Having swamped himself in following the ignis fatuus of a theory. --Sir W. Hamilton.
Swamp\, v. i. 1. To sink or stick in a swamp; figuratively, to become involved in insuperable difficulties. 2. To become filled with water, as a boat; to founder; to capsize or sink; figuratively, to be ruined; to be wrecked.
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