English Explanatory Dictionary

swamp gas

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Gases emitted from a swamp.
  2. Hydrogen sulfide.
  3. A skeptical explanation that is provided in order to debunk a UFO sighting that a believer regards as ludicrous, illogical or disingenuous.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-swamp gas.wav

Word forms

swamp gas

Etymology

* (hydrogen sulfide): So called because it is often emitted from wetlands such as swamps as a result of anaerobic bacteria, and is responsible for their foul “rotten egg” odor. * (ufology): An explanation given by then-skeptic J. Allen Hynek for an alleged UFO sighting in Michigan near Lake Huron in 1966.

Synonyms

bog gas marsh gas biogas rotten egg gas weather balloon pelicanist

Related words

water fire
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on S Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary