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dam - 22 dictionary results

dam

1[dam] noun, verb, dammed, dam⋅ming.
–noun
1. a barrier to obstruct the flow of water, esp. one of earth, masonry, etc., built across a stream or river.
2. a body of water confined by a dam.
3. any barrier resembling a dam.
–verb (used with object)
4. to furnish with a dam; obstruct or confine with a dam.
5. to stop up; block up.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME < MD, MLG, dam; akin to OE for-demman to stop up, block


5. impede, clog, check, choke.

dam

2[dam]
–noun
a female parent (used esp. of four-footed domestic animals).

Origin:
1250–1300; ME; var. of dame

Dam

[dam, dahm]
–noun
(Carl Pe⋅ter) Hen⋅rik [kahrl pee-ter hen-rik; Dan. kahrl pey-tuhr hen-rik] , 1895–1976, Danish biochemist: Nobel prize for medicine 1943.

dam

dekameter; dekameters.
dam 1   (dām)   
n.  
    1. A barrier constructed across a waterway to control the flow or raise the level of water.
    2. A body of water controlled by such a barrier.
  1. A barrier against the passage of liquid or loose material, as a rubber sheet used in dentistry to isolate one or more teeth from the rest of the mouth.
  2. An obstruction; a hindrance.
tr.v.   dammed, dam·ming, dams
  1. To hold back or confine by means of a dam.
  2. To close up; obstruct: He tried to dam his grief. See Synonyms at hinder1.

[Middle English.]
dam'mer n.
dam 2   (dām)   
n.  
  1. Abbr. d. A female parent. Used of a four-legged animal.
  2. Archaic A mother.

[Middle English dam, dame, lady, mother; see dame.]
dam 3  
abbr.  decameter
Dam   (dām, däm)   
Danish biochemist. He shared a 1943 Nobel Prize for the discovery of vitamin K.
dec·a·me·ter or dek·a·me·ter   (děk'ə-mē'tər)   
n.   Abbr. dam or dkm
A metric unit of length equal to 10 meters.

Dam

Dam\, n. [OE. dame mistress, lady; also, mother, dam. See Dame.]

1. A female parent; -- used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother.

Our sire and dam, now confined to horses, are a relic of this age (13th century) . . . .Dame is used of a hen; we now make a great difference between dame and dam. --T. L. K. Oliphant.

The dam runs lowing up end down, Looking the way her harmless young one went. --Shak.

2. A kind or crowned piece in the game of draughts.

Dam

Dam\, n. [Akin to OLG., D., & Dan. dam, G. & Sw. damm, Icel. dammr, and AS. fordemman to stop up, Goth. Fa['u]rdammjan.]

1. A barrier to prevent the flow of a liquid; esp., a bank of earth, or wall of any kind, as of masonry or wood, built across a water course, to confine and keep back flowing water.

2. (Metal.) A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.

Dam plate (Blast Furnace), an iron plate in front of the dam, to strengthen it.

Dam

Dam\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dammed; p. pr. & vb. n. Damming.]

1. To obstruct or restrain the flow of, by a dam; to confine by constructing a dam, as a stream of water; -- generally used with in or up.

I'll have the current in this place dammed up. --Shak.

A weight of earth that dams in the water. --Mortimer.

2. To shut up; to stop up; to close; to restrain.

The strait pass was dammed With dead men hurt behind, and cowards. --Shak.

To dam out, to keep out by means of a dam.
Language Translation for : dam
Spanish: dique,
German: der Staudamm,
Japanese: ダム

dam  (1)
"water barrier," c.1325, probably from O.N. dammr or M.Du. dam, both from P.Gmc. *dammaz, of unknown origin.

dam  (2)
"animal mother," 1297, variant of dame (q.v.), also originally used, like that word, for "lady, mother;" but meanings diverged into separate spellings by 16c.

Main Entry: 1dam
Pronunciation: 'dam
Function: noun
: a female parent —used especially of a domestic animal

Main Entry: 2dam
Function: noun
: RUBBER DAM —see DENTAL DAM

Main Entry: dam
Function: abbreviation
dekameter

dam (dām)
n.
A barrier against the passage of liquid or loose material, especially a rubber sheet used in dentistry to isolate one or more teeth from the rest of the mouth.

Dam (dām, däm), (Carl Peter) Henrik. 1895-1976.

Danish biochemist. He shared a 1943 Nobel Prize for the discovery of vitamin K.

dam
decameter
DAM
  1. diacetylmonoxime
  2. divorced Asian male
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