swam

n. [ Cf. AS. swam a fungus, OD. swam a sponge, D. zwam a fungus, G. schwamm a sponge, Icel. svöppr, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Swamped p. pr. & vb. n. Swamping. ] 1. To plunge or sink into a swamp. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) To cause (a boat) to become filled with water; to capsize or sink by whelming with water. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Fig.: To plunge into difficulties and perils; to overwhelm; to ruin; to wreck. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Whig majority of the house of Lords was swamped by the creation of twelve Tory peers. J. R. Green. [ 1913 Webster ]

Having swamped himself in following the ignis fatuus of a theory. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To sink or stick in a swamp; figuratively, to become involved in insuperable difficulties. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To become filled with water, as a boat; to founder; to capsize or sink; figuratively, to be ruined; to be wrecked. [ 1913 Webster ]