dam
1a barrier to obstruct the flow of water, especially one of earth, masonry, etc., built across a stream or river.
a body of water confined by a dam.
any barrier resembling a dam.
to furnish with a dam; obstruct or confine with a dam.
to stop up; block up.
Origin of dam
1Other words for dam
Other definitions for dam (2 of 4)
a female parent (used especially of four-footed domestic animals).
Origin of dam
2Other definitions for dam (3 of 4)
dekameter; dekameters.
Other definitions for Dam (4 of 4)
(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
Last year, over 214,000 workers were posted in Africa to build highways, bridges, dams, and power plants.
Dams and Stolle make a compelling case that these scholars have it wrong.
Not so long ago, dams and smokestacks were symbols of progress.
Green Politics Has to Get More Radical, Because Anything Less Is Impractical | Jedediah Purdy | April 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTISIS controls key roads, dams, and grain silos, with checkpoints everywhere.
When your son gets older, you might encourage him to do manly and practical things, like building bridges or dams.
The mill-dams at Sutton burst their banks July 24, 1668, and many houses were swept away.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellHe saw this water pouring over other dams, turning water wheels, giving power to mills and factories.
Scattergood Baines | Clarence Budington KellandIt is easy to see that such moving dams of ice may sweep the bed of a river as with a great broom.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate ShalerWe went through deep woods, dark streets, through small villages and through long, narrow dams at breakneck speed.
Ways of War and Peace | Delia AustrianWhen lambing in the field, only a few should be together, as the young sometimes get changed, and the dams refuse to own them.
Domestic Animals | Richard L. Allen
British Dictionary definitions for dam (1 of 5)
/ (dæm) /
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
a reservoir of water created by such a barrier
something that resembles or functions as a dam
(tr often foll by up) to obstruct or restrict by or as if by a dam
Origin of dam
1British Dictionary definitions for dam (2 of 5)
/ (dæm) /
the female parent of an animal, esp of domestic livestock
Origin of dam
2British Dictionary definitions for dam (3 of 5)
/ (dæm) /
(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)
decametre(s)
British Dictionary definitions for Dam (5 of 5)
/ (Danish dam) /
(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
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.
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