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
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
Any Alaskan who has just attempted to cross muskeg on foot will sympathize with the plight of the salvage crews, who had to remove a fighter plane partially buried in knee-deep mud and transport it to the island’s coast for pickup.
—David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 10 July 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
That muskeg excludes the rainforest Sitka spruce and hemlock that dominate most of this plain beneath high mountains.
—Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Aug. 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
After a lightning strike sparked it on June 21, that fire had consumed spruce and muskeg over a swath the size of New York City.
—Anchorage Daily News, 31 Aug. 2019
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.
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
Any Alaskan who has just attempted to cross muskeg on foot will sympathize with the plight of the salvage crews, who had to remove a fighter plane partially buried in knee-deep mud and transport it to the island’s coast for pickup.
—David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 10 July 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
That muskeg excludes the rainforest Sitka spruce and hemlock that dominate most of this plain beneath high mountains.
—Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Aug. 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
After a lightning strike sparked it on June 21, that fire had consumed spruce and muskeg over a swath the size of New York City.
—Anchorage Daily News, 31 Aug. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Muskeg.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/muskeg. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share