sweet bay

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}. (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 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 ({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}. [1913 Webster]