Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PEAT, n. [G. pfütze, a bog.]

A substance resembling turf, used as fuel. It is found in low grounds or moorish lands, and is of several species; one is of a brown or yellowish brown color, and when first cut has a viscid consistence, but hardens when exposed to the air; another consists chiefly of vegetable substance; as branches of trees, roots, grass, &c. – Bacon. Nicholson. Encyc.