muskeg

[ muhs-keg ]

noun

1. a bog of northern North America, commonly having sphagnum mosses, sedge, and sometimes stunted black spruce and tamarack trees.

muskeg

/ ˈmʌsˌkɛɡ /

noun

1. undrained boggy land characterized by sphagnum moss vegetation

   vast areas of muskeg

2. a bog or swamp of this nature

Word History and Origins

Origin of muskeg¹

1765–75; < Cree maske·k < Proto-Algonquian *maŝkye·kwi swamp

Word History and Origins

Origin of muskeg¹

C19: from Algonquian: grassy swamp

Example Sentences

He said it was burning along the surface of the ground through the aftermath of the former blaze and had much less fuel, and that muskeg was generating the smoke noticed by locals.

From Seattle Times

Still many, like Michelle Cyca, a freelance indigenous journalist from the Muskeg Lake First Nation, believe that the information put forward by the CBC is "very convincing".

From BBC

Tens of thousands of bar-tailed godwits are taking advantage of favorable winds this month and next for their annual migration from the mud flats and muskeg of southern Alaska, south across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, to the beaches of New Zealand and eastern Australia.

From New York Times

As tribal casino boss Terry Thomas in “Rutherford Falls,” set in a fictional American town confronting its own colonialist history, the Nêhiyaw actor and theater director from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada, brings depth and pride to a type of figure often shallowly defined in narratives involving contemporary Native characters.

From Los Angeles Times

Authorities have used helicopters, drones, boats, and dogs to search approximately 4,200 square miles of tundra, muskeg and dense forests.

From Fox News