swamp oak n 1: Australian leafless shrub resembling broom and having small yellow flowers [syn: swamp oak, Viminaria juncea, Viminaria denudata] 2: fast-growing medium to large pyramidal deciduous tree of northeastern United States and southeastern Canada having deeply pinnatifid leaves that turn bright red in autumn; thrives in damp soil [syn: pin oak, swamp oak, Quercus palustris}] 3: large deciduous oak of the eastern United States with a flaky bark and leaves that have fewer lobes than other white oaks; yields heavy strong wood used in construction; thrives in wet soil [syn: swamp white oak, swamp oak, Quercus bicolor]

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. Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern. --Tennyson. 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). 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, or Rhododendron, viscosa}) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called also swamp pink. 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.

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