DAMP

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does damp mean? 

• DAMP (noun)
  The noun DAMP has 1 sense:

1. a slight wetness

  Familiarity information: DAMP used as a noun is very rare.

• DAMP (adjective)
  The adjective DAMP has 1 sense:

1. slightly wet

  Familiarity information: DAMP used as an adjective is very rare.

• DAMP (verb)
  The verb DAMP has 4 senses:

1. deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

2. restrain or discourage

3. make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible

4. lessen in force or effect

  Familiarity information: DAMP used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DAMP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A slight wetness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

damp; dampness; moistness

Hypernyms ("damp" is a kind of...):

wetness (the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "damp"):

clamminess; dankness (unpleasant wetness)

rawness (a chilly dampness)

Derivation:

damp (slightly wet)

• DAMP (adjective)

Comparative: damper   
Superlative: dampest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Slightly wet

Synonyms:

damp; dampish; moist

Context example:

eyes moist with tears

Similar:

wet (covered or soaked with a liquid such as water)

Derivation:

damp; dampness (a slight wetness)

• DAMP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they damp    ... he / she / it damps   
Past simple: damped   
Past participle: damped   
-ing form: damping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

damp; dampen; dull; muffle; mute; tone down

Hypernyms (to "damp" is one way to...):

soften (make (images or sounds) soft or softer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

damper (a device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Restrain or discourage

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

the sudden bad news damped the joyous atmosphere

Hypernyms (to "damp" is one way to...):

check; contain; control; curb; hold; hold in; moderate (lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

damper (a depressing restraint)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

damp; dampen; deaden

Context example:

muffle the message

Hypernyms (to "damp" is one way to...):

break; damp; dampen; soften; weaken (lessen in force or effect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

damper (a device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Lessen in force or effect

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

break; damp; dampen; soften; weaken

Context example:

break a fall

Hypernyms (to "damp" is one way to...):

blunt; deaden (make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "damp"):

deafen (make soundproof)

damp; dampen; deaden (make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

damper (a movable iron plate that regulates the draft in a stove or chimney or furnace)

 Context examples 

But all these tokens of past grandeur were miserably decayed and dirty; rot, damp, and age, had weakened the flooring, which in many places was unsound and even unsafe.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

No sentiment of shame gave a damp to her triumph.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The chin, with the damp black beard, pointed higher in the air as the back muscles stiffened and the chest swelled in an unconscious and instinctive effort to get more air.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Now, when you described the Wigan coal explosion last month, could you not have gone down and helped those people, in spite of the choke-damp?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Leaning low over this dearest of her sisters, she kissed the damp forehead with her heart on her lips, and softly whispered, "Good-by, my Beth. Good-by!"

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It was damp, marshy ground, as is all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either side.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

McFarlane wiped his damp brow, and then continued his narrative: I was shown by this woman into a sitting-room, where a frugal supper was laid out.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was plainly a damp, feverish, unhealthy spot.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But this was a luxury of sensation that could not endure; I became fatigued with excess of bodily exertion and sank on the damp grass in the sick impotence of despair.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The court was very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight, although the sky, high up overhead, was still bright with sunset.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)