damp

[damp] adjective, damp·er, damp·est, noun, verb
adjective
1.
slightly wet; moist: damp weather; a damp towel.
2.
unenthusiastic; dejected; depressed: The welcoming committee gave them a rather damp reception.
noun
3.
moisture; humidity; moist air: damp that goes through your warmest clothes.
4.
a noxious or stifling vapor or gas, especially in a mine.
5.
depression of spirits; dejection.
6.
a restraining or discouraging force or factor.
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verb (used with object)
7.
to make damp; moisten.
8.
to check or retard the energy, action, etc., of; deaden; dampen: A series of failures damped her enthusiasm.
9.
to stifle or suffocate; extinguish: to damp a furnace.
10.
Acoustics, Music. to check or retard the action of (a vibrating string); dull; deaden.
11.
Physics. to cause a decrease in amplitude of (successive oscillations or waves).
Verb phrases
12.
damp off, to undergo damping-off.
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English (in sense of def. 4); compare Middle Dutch damp, Middle High German dampf vapor, smoke

Related forms
damp·ish, adjective
damp·ish·ly, adverb
damp·ish·ness, noun
damp·ly, adverb
damp·ness, noun

Can be confused: damp, dampen, moist (see synonym study at the current entry).

Synonyms
1. dank, steamy. Damp, humid, moist mean slightly wet. Damp usually implies slight and extraneous wetness, generally undesirable or unpleasant unless the result of intention: a damp cellar; to put a damp cloth on a patient's forehead. Humid is applied to unpleasant dampness in the air: The air is oppressively humid today. Moist denotes something that is slightly wet, naturally or properly: moist ground; moist leather. 3. dankness, dampness, fog, vapor. 7. humidify. 8. slow, inhibit, restrain, moderate, abate.

Antonyms
1. dry.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To damp
Collins
World English Dictionary
damp (dæmp) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—adj
1.  slightly wet, as from dew, steam, etc
2.  archaic dejected
 
—n
3.  slight wetness; moisture; humidity
4.  See also firedamp rank air or poisonous gas, esp in a mine
5.  a discouragement; damper
6.  archaic dejection
 
—vb
7.  to make slightly wet
8.  (often foll by down) to stifle or deaden: to damp one's ardour
9.  (often foll by down) to reduce the flow of air to (a fire) to make it burn more slowly or to extinguish it
10.  physics to reduce the amplitude of (an oscillation or wave)
11.  music to muffle (the sound of an instrument)
 
[C14: from Middle Low German damp steam; related to Old High German demphen to cause to steam]
 
'dampish
 
—adj
 
'damply
 
—adv
 
'dampness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

damp
early 14c., probably in O.E., but no record of it. If not, probably from M.L.G. damp; ult. from P.Gmc. *dampaz. Originally "a noxious vapor;" sense of "moisture" is first attested 1706. Damper of a piano is from 1783; of a chimney, 1788; either or both of which led to various figurative senses.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
dAMP
deoxyadenylic acid
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

damp

any of various harmful vapours produced during mining operations. The gases are frequently called damps (German Dampf, "vapour"). Firedamp is a gas that occurs naturally in coal seams. The gas is nearly always methane (CH4) and is highly inflammable and explosive when present in the air in a proportion of 5 to 14 percent. White damp, or carbon monoxide (CO), is a particularly toxic gas; as little as 0.1 percent can cause death within a few minutes. It is a product of the incomplete combustion of carbon and is formed in coal mines chiefly by the oxidation of coal, particularly in those mines where spontaneous combustion occurs. Black damp is an atmosphere in which a flame lamp will not burn, usually because of an excess of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen in the air. Stinkdamp is the name given by miners to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) because of its characteristic smell of rotten eggs. Afterdamp is the mixture of gases found in a mine after an explosion or fire

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Wiggle the door and can, then cover the oven with damp towels and plastic tarp.
He had fallen in a damp runway soon after his return.
The local feed store keeps the bundles, each secured with a rubber band, in big
  bins of damp sawdust.
Making the forest a moist damp area and keeping it cool during the day.
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