: low land that is covered wholly or partly with water unless artificially drained and that usually has peaty alkaline soil and characteristic flora (as of sedges and reeds)
Examples of fen in a Sentence
Noun (1)
a day spent trudging through the fens in quest of game birds
Recent Examples on the Web
Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 31 Dec. 2024
Earth’s earliest wildfires may have been fitful and erratic, flickering among the amphibious flora of fens and bogs.
—Ferris Jabr, The Atlantic, 25 June 2024
They can be found on all continents and are classified into bogs, fens and swamps.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Mar. 2024
But after decades of habitat destruction, these handsome insects are now fragmented and locally extinct, holding out in the wettest fens, valleys, and peat bogs of the New Forest and Dorset.
—Matthew Ponsford, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024
The plants have been found in Indiana's forested wetlands, fens, savannas and forests as well as long roadsides and in old crop fields.
—The Indianapolis Star, 19 Mar. 2024
According to Indiana's Department of Natural Resources, wetlands include bogs, dune and swale, fens, flatwoods, floodplain forests, marshes, ponds, lakes, sedge meadows, seeps, streams, creeks, major rivers and swamps.
—Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 14 Feb. 2024
Traversing swamps, marshes, bogs, fens, bayous and baygalls across Georgia, Louisiana and his home of East Texas, Carter creates haunting photographs that invoke the imagination.
—Donny Bajohr, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Dec. 2023
There are four main kinds: Marshes, swamps, bogs and fens.
—Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 24 July 2023
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Saving a satyr The property features a peat-bearing wetland called a fen, and the Mitchell’s satyr is only found in these rare habitats that take thousands of years to develop.
—Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 31 Dec. 2024
Earth’s earliest wildfires may have been fitful and erratic, flickering among the amphibious flora of fens and bogs.
—Ferris Jabr, The Atlantic, 25 June 2024
They can be found on all continents and are classified into bogs, fens and swamps.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Mar. 2024
But after decades of habitat destruction, these handsome insects are now fragmented and locally extinct, holding out in the wettest fens, valleys, and peat bogs of the New Forest and Dorset.
—Matthew Ponsford, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024
The plants have been found in Indiana's forested wetlands, fens, savannas and forests as well as long roadsides and in old crop fields.
—The Indianapolis Star, 19 Mar. 2024
According to Indiana's Department of Natural Resources, wetlands include bogs, dune and swale, fens, flatwoods, floodplain forests, marshes, ponds, lakes, sedge meadows, seeps, streams, creeks, major rivers and swamps.
—Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 14 Feb. 2024
Traversing swamps, marshes, bogs, fens, bayous and baygalls across Georgia, Louisiana and his home of East Texas, Carter creates haunting photographs that invoke the imagination.
—Donny Bajohr, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Dec. 2023
There are four main kinds: Marshes, swamps, bogs and fens.
—Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 24 July 2023
Cite this Entry
“Fen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fen. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
Copy CitationGeographical Definition
Fen
geographical name
ˈfən 
ˈfen
river 300 miles (483 kilometers) long in northern China in central Shanxi flowing south-southeast into the Huang River
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share