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Webster 1913 Edition

Dam

Dam

(dăm)
,
Noun.
[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 and down,
Looking the way her harmless young one went.
Shakespeare
2.
A king or crowned piece in the game of draughts.

Dam

,
Noun.
[Akin to OLG., D., & Dan.
dam
, G. & Sw.
damm
, Icel.
dammr
, and AS.
fordemman
to stop up, Goth.
Faúrdammjan
.]
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

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dammed
(dămd)
;
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.
Shakespeare
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.
Shakespeare
To dam out
,
to keep out by means of a dam.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dam

DAM

, n.
1.
A female parent; used of beasts, particularly of quadrupeds.
2.
A human mother, in contempt.
3.
A crowned man in the game of draughts.

DAM

,
Noun.
A mole, bank or mound of earth, or any wall, or a frame of wood, raised to obstruct a current of water, and to raise it, for the purpose of driving millwheels, or for other purposes. Any work that stops and confines water in a pond or bason, or causes it to rise.

DAM

, v.t.
1.
To make a dam, or to stop a stream of water by a bank of earth, or by any other work; to confine or shut in water. It is common to use, after the verb, in, up, or out; as, to dam in, or to dam up, the water, and to dam out is to prevent water from entering.
2.
To confine or restrain from escaping; to shut in.

Definition 2024

Dam

Dam

See also: dam, dám, dâm, dăm, da̰m, and Appendix:Variations of "dam"

Danish

Proper noun

Dam

  1. A surname​.

Egyptian

Romanization

Dam

  1. Manuel de Codage transliteration of ḏˤm.

Faroese

Etymology

From Danish Dam.

Proper noun

Dam

  1. A surname​.

dam

dam

See also: Dam, dám, dâm, dăm, da̰m, and Appendix:Variations of "dam"

Translingual

Symbol

dam

  1. (metrology) Symbol for the decameter (decametre), an SI unit of length equal to 101 meters (metres).

English

A dam

Noun

dam ‎(plural dams)

  1. A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow.
    A dam is often an essential source of water to farmers of hilly country.‎
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
      Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins … .
    • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:
      Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.
  2. (dentistry) A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.
  3. (South Africa, Australia) A reservoir.
  4. A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.
  5. (India) An obsolete Indian copper coin, equal to a fortieth of a rupee.
    • 1839, William Holloway, A General Dictionary of Provincialisms, Written with a View to Rescue from Oblivion the Fast Fading Relics of By-gone Days, Lewes, East Sussex: Sussex Press: Printed and published by Baxter and Son, OCLC 3138091, page 42:
      […] A small Indian coin; whence comes the saying "I don't care a dam for you," that is I don't value you a farthing, and not as generally given, "I don't care a damn" or a "curse for you." [Possibly a folk etymology.]
Translations
structure placed across a flowing body of water

References

    Verb

    dam ‎(third-person singular simple present dams, present participle damming, simple past and past participle dammed)

    1. To block the flow of water.
    Translations
    See also

    Etymology 2

    Variant of dame.

    Noun

    dam ‎(plural dams)

    1. Female parent, mother, generally regarding breeding of animals (correlative to sire).
      • Shakespeare
        The dam runs lowing up and down, / Looking the way her harmless young one went.
      • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.12:
        Hunters assure us, that to chuse the best dog, and which they purpose to keepe from out a litter of other young whelps, there is no better meane than the damme herselfe […].
      • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, I:
        she / Resolved that Juan should be quite a paragon, / And worthy of the noblest pedigree / (His sire was from Castile, his dam from Aragon) […].
      • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, 1992, p.112:
        The sky was cloudless—the moon rolled across the surface like a lamb searching for its dam.
    2. A kind of crowned piece in the game of draughts.
    Translations

    Etymology 3

    Noun

    dam ‎(plural dams)

    1. A former coin of Nepal, 128 of which were worth one mohar.

    Anagrams

    Crimean Tatar

    Noun

    dam

    1. stable
    2. roof
    3. taste

    Declension

    Synonyms

    Danish

    Etymology 1

    From Old Norse dammr ‎(“dam”).

    Noun

    dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite damme)

    1. pond
    Derived terms
    • dambrug n
    Inflection

    Etymology 2

    Borrowing from French jeu de dames ‎(“draughts”).

    Noun

    dam c, n

    1. draughts, checkers

    Etymology 3

    Borrowing from French dame ‎(“lady”).

    Noun

    dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite dammer)

    1. king (superior piece in draughts)
    Inflection

    Dutch

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /dɑm/
    • Rhymes: -ɑm

    Noun

    dam m ‎(plural dammen, diminutive dammetje n)

    1. dam

    Derived terms

    Verb

    dam

    1. first-person singular present indicative of dammen
    2. imperative of dammen

    French

    Etymology

    From Latin damnum.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /dɑ̃/

    Noun

    dam m ‎(plural dams)

    1. (obsolete except in phrases) damage
    2. (religion) damnation

    Derived terms

    Related terms

    Anagrams

    Friulian

    Etymology

    From Latin damnum.

    Noun

    dam m ‎(plural dams)

    1. damage

    Synonyms

    • daneç

    Related terms

    Irish

    Pronoun

    dam ‎(emphatic damsa)

    1. Alternative form of dom ‎(“for/to me”)

    Lojban

    Rafsi

    dam

    1. rafsi of danmo.

    Maltese

    Verb

    dam

    1. dally, stall

    Norwegian Bokmål

    Etymology

    From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?]. Sense 3 is from French jeu de dames.

    Noun

    dam m ‎(definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammer, definite plural dammene)

    1. a pond
    2. a dam (structure)
    3. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

    References

    Norwegian Nynorsk

    Etymology

    From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?]. Sense 3 is from French jeu de dames.

    Noun

    dam m ‎(definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammar, definite plural dammane)

    1. a pond
    2. a dam (structure)
    3. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

    References

    Old Irish

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /daṽ/

    Etymology 1

    From Proto-Celtic *damos ‎(“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂-

    Noun

    dam m ‎(genitive daim)

    1. ox
    2. stag
    3. (by extension) hero, champion
    Declension
    Masculine o-stem
    Singular Dual Plural
    Nominative dam damL daimL
    Vocative daim damL daumu
    Accusative damN damL daumu
    Genitive daimL dam damN
    Dative daumL damaib damaib
    Initial mutations of a following adjective:
    • H = triggers aspiration
    • L = triggers lenition
    • N = triggers nasalization
    • Alternative forms:
      genitive singular, nominative plural: doim
      dative singular: dum, dam
      accusative plural: dumu, damu
    Descendants

    Noun

    dam f

    1. hind, cow (old feminine form of previous)

    Etymology 2

    Inflected forms of daimid.

    Verb

    dam

    1. first-person singular present subjunctive conjunct of daimid
    2. Alternative form of daim

    ·dam

    1. Alternative form of ·daim

    Mutation

    Old Irish mutation
    Radical Lenition Nasalization
    dam dam
    pronounced with /ð(ʲ)-/     		ndam
    Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
    possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

    References

    • “1 dam” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
    • “2 dam” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

    Polish

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [d̪ãm]

    Verb

    dam

    1. first-person singular present of dać

    Noun

    dam

    1. genitive plural of dama

    Rohingya

    Etymology

    From Bengali.

    Noun

    dam

    1. price

    Swedish

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /dɑːm/

    Noun

    dam c

    1. a lady, a woman
    2. (card games) a queen
      Ruter dam‎
      Queen of diamonds
    3. (chess) a queen

    Declension

    Inflection of dam 
    Singular Plural
    Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
    Nominative dam damen damer damerna
    Genitive dams damens damers damernas

    Related terms

    Synonyms

    See also

    Chess pieces in Swedish · schackpjäser (schack + pjäser) (layout · text)
    ♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
    kung drottning, dam torn löpare springare, häst bonde

    References

    Turkish

    Etymology

    From Old Turkic [script needed] ‎(tam), from Proto-Turkic *Tām ‎(“roof; wall; hut”), which, according to the controversial Altaic hypothesis, is possibly derived from Proto-Altaic *t`āma ‎(“wall, roof”).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /dɑm/

    Noun

    dam ‎(definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

    1. roof

    References

      Uzbek

      Noun

      dam ‎(plural damlar)

      1. bellows

      Etymology

      From the noun dam ‎(“pond”).

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