marsh

¹ American  

[mahrsh] / mɑrʃ /

noun

1. a tract of low wet land, often treeless and periodically inundated, generally characterized by a growth of grasses, sedges, cattails, and rushes.

   Synonyms:

   wetland, marshland, fen, bog, swamp

---

Marsh ² American  

[mahrsh] / mɑrʃ /

noun

1. Dame (Edith) Ngaio 1899–1982, New Zealand writer of detective novels.

2. Reginald, 1898–1954, U.S. painter and illustrator.

---

marsh ¹ British  

/ mɑːʃ /

noun

1. low poorly drained land that is sometimes flooded and often lies at the edge of lakes, streams, etc Compare swamp

---

Marsh ² British  

/ mɑːʃ /

noun

1. Dame ( Edith ) Ngaio (ˈnaɪəʊ). 1899–1981, New Zealand crime writer, living in Britain (from 1928). Her many detective novels include Final Curtain (1947) and Last Ditch (1977)

2. Rodney ( William ). born 1947, Australian cricketer: a wicketkeeper, he took 355 dismissals in 96 test matches (1970–84)

---

marsh Scientific  

/ märsh /

1. An area of low-lying wetland in which the level of water is generally shallow and often fluctuating. The water may be either standing or slow-moving. The water in a marsh is also more or less neutral or alkaline, in contrast to the water in a bog, which is acidic. The environment of a marsh is in general well-oxygenated and nutrient-rich and allows a great variety of organisms to flourish. In contrast to a swamp, in which there is an abundance of woody plants, the plants in a marsh are mostly herbaceous. Reeds and rushes dominate the vegetation of marshes.

2. See also salt marsh

---

Other Word Forms

• marshlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of marsh

before 900; Middle English mershe, Old English mer ( i ) sc (cognate with German Marsch ). See mere ², -ish ¹; marais, marish, morass

Example Sentences

Even the cattails that usually stand straight and tall, protecting the marsh, look weighed down, their heads heavy, slanted sideways, like they’re reaching toward the cool water for some relief.

From Literature

Tule fog—a dense, low-lying mist named for a reedlike plant that grows in the region’s marshes—can settle over California’s vast agricultural heartland, typically from November through March.

From The Wall Street Journal

Along the way, it passes through some of the country's most beautiful and varied landscapes, from salt marshes and sandy beaches to cliffs, dunes and historic coastal towns.

From BBC

Before her stretched a vast treeless waste, where heather and dwarf willow hugged the ground in a vain attempt to avoid the wind; where small peat-brown lakes shivered amid tossing marsh grass.

From Literature

"However, the same cannot be said for intertidal systems" such as salt marshes and mudflats that line the coast and are exposed at low tide, he added.

From Barron's