A bog is a type of wetland where the ground stays waterlogged and spongy year-round. Bogs form in areas where dead plants don't fully decompose, instead building up over thousands of years into thick layers of spongy material called peat. Walk across a bog and the ground might shake beneath your feet like a waterbed.

Bogs are strange, fascinating places. They're usually quite acidic, which means only specialized plants like sphagnum moss, cranberries, and carnivorous sundews can survive there.

As a verb, bog means to get stuck or slowed down. When a project gets bogged down in details, it means progress has stalled. You might say, “Don't get bogged down in the instructions,” when someone's overthinking the steps instead of just getting started. Just as walking through an actual bog means slow, difficult progress with every step, being bogged down means struggling to move forward.