carr
Carr (noun) means a patch of marshy or waterlogged ground, sometimes wooded with willows or other water-tolerant trees. Example: “The nature reserve includes an ancient carr where alder trees grow in the wet ground.”
How to use carr
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA boggy, low-lying area, often with trees or scrub growing in the wet ground — mostly a regional English term now used in ecology and place names.
A fairly specialist or regional term, most often seen in nature writing or place names rather than everyday conversation.
Word forms
- Plural
- carrs
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The nature reserve includes an ancient _____ where alder trees grow in the wet ground.
Etymology
From Middle English kerr/carr, related to Old Norse kjarr ("brushwood, marsh with scrub") — a dialect word still used in parts of northern England.