bog
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bahgIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɑɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation; has poorer drainage than a swamp; soil is unfit for cultivation but can be cut and dried and used for fuel
An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.
figuratively
Confusion, difficulty, or any other thing or place that impedes progress in the manner of such areas.
UKIrelandAustralia and New Zealandslang
A place to defecate: originally specifically a latrine or outhouse but now used for any toilet.
uncountable
Boggy ground.
Australia and New Zealandslang
An act or instance of defecation.
verb
intransitivenow often with "down"
To sink and stick in bogland.
transitivenow often with "down"
To sink or submerge someone or something into bogland.
figuratively
To be prevented or impeded from making progress, to become stuck.
transitivebritishinformal
To make a mess of something.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation; has poorer drainage than a swamp; soil is unfit for cultivation but can be cut and dried and used for fuel
Used this way, bog is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- peat bog , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bog
- “The vote would bog down the house.”verb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.