muskeg

noun

mus·​keg ˈmə-ˌskeg 

-ˌskāg

1

: bog

especially : a sphagnum bog of northern North America often with tussocks

2

: a usually thick deposit of partially decayed vegetable matter of wet boreal regions

Synonyms

• marsh
• wetland
• swamp

Examples of muskeg in a Sentence

local farmers can make extra money by digging peat out of the nearby muskeg

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s how: Find a tree, dead or alive, by itself in muskeg or on an open ridge. —Ted Updike, Outdoor Life, 22 May 2025

The lakes are two skinny networks of water, one above the other, separated by two kilometres of muskeg. —Hazlitt, 20 Dec. 2022

Some of those roads, homes, and business districts crossed what had once been impassable, swampy muskeg. —David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 6 Nov. 2022

The terrain gives way to a mixture of forest, muskeg and drylands, where the sandy soil rises to the surface. —NBC News, 22 Nov. 2021

Much of the undeveloped land in Tongass is rock, ice or muskeg, a type of cold-climate swamp. —Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Oct. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Cree maske·k

First Known Use

1806, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for muskeg

• blitzkrieg
• fatigue
• intrigue
• chincoteague
• league

Kids Definition

muskeg

noun

mus·​keg ˈməs-ˌkeg 

: bog entry 1

especially : a bog of northern North America that is composed of many layers of half-decayed plants and especially sphagnum