from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Swamp \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.
[1913 Webster]
Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern.
--Tennyson.
[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. --Farming
Encyc. (E.
Edwards,
Words).
[1913 Webster]
{Swamp blackbird}. (Zool.) See {Redwing}
(b) .
{Swamp cabbage} (Bot.), skunk cabbage.
{Swamp deer} (Zool.), an Asiatic deer ({Rucervus Duvaucelli})
of India.
{Swamp hen}. (Zool.)
(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 ({Quercus
bicolor}), swamp post oak ({Quercus lyrata}).
{Swamp ore} (Min.), bog ore; limonite.
{Swamp partridge} (Zool.), any one of several Australian game
birds of the genera {Synoicus} and {Excalfatoria}, allied
to the European partridges.
{Swamp robin} (Zool.), the chewink.
{Swamp sassafras} (Bot.), a small North American tree of the
genus {Magnolia} ({Magnolia glauca}) with aromatic leaves
and fragrant creamy-white blossoms; -- called also {sweet
bay}.
{Swamp sparrow} (Zool.), a common North American sparrow
({Melospiza Georgiana}, or {Melospiza palustris}), closely
resembling the song sparrow. It lives in low, swampy
places.
{Swamp willow}. (Bot.) See {Pussy willow}, under {Pussy}.
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