dam

1
[ dam ]
See synonyms for dam on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a barrier to obstruct the flow of water, especially one of earth, masonry, etc., built across a stream or river.

  2. a body of water confined by a dam.

  1. any barrier resembling a dam.

verb (used with object),dammed, dam·ming.
  1. to furnish with a dam; obstruct or confine with a dam.

  2. to stop up; block up.

Origin of dam

1
1275–1325; Middle English <Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, dam; akin to Old English for-demman to stop up, block

Other words for dam

Other definitions for dam (2 of 4)

dam2
[ dam ]

noun
  1. a female parent (used especially of four-footed domestic animals).

Origin of dam

2
1250–1300; Middle English; variant of dame

Other definitions for dam (3 of 4)

dam3

abbreviation
  1. dekameter; dekameters.

Other definitions for Dam (4 of 4)

Dam
[ dam, dahm ]

noun
  1. (Carl Pe·ter) Hen·rik [kahrl pee-ter hen-rik; Danish kahrl pey-tuhr-hen-rik], /kɑrl ˈpi tɛr ˈhɛn rɪk; Danish kɑrl ˈpeɪ tər ˈhɛn rɪk/, 1895–1976, Danish biochemist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1943.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dam in a sentence

  • She was like a dammed-up stream that suddenly finds an outlet.

    Quin | Alice Hegan Rice
  • Failing that a dammed-up pond may form the only supply of water.

    Mexico | Charles Reginald Enock
  • It is as if all this had been dammed up in his heart for long, and to say a single word was to say everything.

  • The very minor circumstance of their landlady being in the room dammed a flood.

  • Fortunately the river was partly dammed, in order to accumulate water for the many saw-mills under the falls.

    Boyhood in Norway | Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

British Dictionary definitions for dam (1 of 5)

dam1

/ (dæm) /


noun
  1. a barrier of concrete, earth, etc, built across a river to create a body of water for a hydroelectric power station, domestic water supply, etc

  2. a reservoir of water created by such a barrier

  1. something that resembles or functions as a dam

verbdams, damming or dammed
  1. (tr often foll by up) to obstruct or restrict by or as if by a dam

Origin of dam

1
C12: probably from Middle Low German; compare Old Icelandic damma to block up

British Dictionary definitions for dam (2 of 5)

dam2

/ (dæm) /


noun
  1. the female parent of an animal, esp of domestic livestock

Origin of dam

2
C13: variant of dame

British Dictionary definitions for dam (3 of 5)

dam3

/ (dæm) /


interjection, adverb, adjective
  1. (often used in combination) a variant spelling of damn (def. 1), damn (def. 2), damn (def. 3), damn (def. 4) damfool; dammit

British Dictionary definitions for dam (4 of 5)

dam4

symbol for
  1. decametre(s)

British Dictionary definitions for Dam (5 of 5)

Dam

/ (Danish dam) /


noun
  1. (Carl Peter) Henrik (ˈhɛnrəɡ). 1895–1976, Danish biochemist who discovered vitamin K (1934): Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1943

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with dam

dam

see water over the dam.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.