bog
/bɔɡ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.34 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.
noun
An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.
noun
An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.
Uncountable
noun
Confusion, difficulty, or any other thing or place that impedes progress in the manner of such areas.
noun
A place to defecate: originally specifically a latrine or outhouse but now used for any toilet.
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; British usage; Slang
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: fen, slough, moor"
- "They that ride so... fall into foule Boggs."
- "Certaine... places [in Ireland]... which of their softnes are vsually tearmed Boghes."
- "Bog may by draining be made Meadow."
- "[W]e entered a region where the stream widened out and formed a considerable bog."
- "[Cedar Bog] is a living museum of plants that once were spread over a far wider area. It is the southernmost such alkaline bog in North America, and teachers take their classes there to study this unique natural area.[…]"
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English bog (originally chiefly in Ireland and Scotland), from Irish and Scottish Gaelic bogach (“soft, boggy ground”), from Old Irish bog (“soft”), from Proto-Celtic *buggos (“soft, tender”) + Old Irish -ach, from Proto-Celtic *-ākos. The frequent use to form compounds regarding the animals and plants in such areas mimics Irish compositions such as bog-luachair (“bulrush, bogrush”). Its use for toilets is now often derived from the resemblance of latrines and outhouse cesspools to bogholes, but the noun sense appears to be a clipped form of boghouse (“outhouse, privy”), which derived (possibly via boggard) from the verb to bog, still used in Australian English. The derivation and its connection to other senses of "bog" remains uncertain, however, owing to an extreme lack of early citations due to its perceived vulgarity.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɔɡ/
- British English: /bɒɡ/
Usage
- Uncountable
- Australian usage
- New Zealand usage
- British usage
- Slang
- American usage
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb
Inflected Forms
bogs (plural)
bogg (alternative)
bogge (alternative)
boghe (alternative)
bogs (present, singular)
bogging (participle, present)
bogged (participle, past)
bogged (past)
bogg (alternative, obsolete)
bogue (alternative, obsolete)
bogger (comparative)
boggest (superlative)