damping

[ dam-ping ]
See synonyms for damping on Thesaurus.com
nounPhysics.
  1. a decreasing of the amplitude of an electrical or mechanical wave.

  2. an energy-absorbing mechanism or resistance circuit causing this decrease.

  1. a reduction in the amplitude of an oscillation or vibration as a result of energy being dissipated as heat.

Origin of damping

1
First recorded in 1750-60; damp + -ing1

Words Nearby damping

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

How to use damping in a sentence

  • First go over the part to be coloured with the brush and clean water for the purpose of damping it.

  • damping Off is the rotting off of cuttings or young plants near the surface of the soil.

  • Miss Poppleton received the suggestion with a coldness that was particularly damping.

  • The world supported his pretension; and her passion to serve as Chillon's comrade sank at a damping because it was flame.

  • Cecil, however, was determined to resist the damping influence as long as she could.

    Bluebell | Mrs. George Croft Huddleston

British Dictionary definitions for damping

damping

/ (ˈdæmpɪŋ) /


noun
  1. moistening or wetting

  2. stifling, as of spirits

  1. electronics the introduction of resistance into a resonant circuit with the result that the sharpness of response at the peak of a frequency is reduced

  2. engineering any method of dispersing energy in a vibrating system

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

Scientific definitions for damping

damping

[ dămpĭng ]


  1. The action of a substance or of an element in a mechanical or electrical device that gradually reduces the degree of oscillation, vibration, or signal intensity, or prevents it from increasing. For example, sound-proofing technology dampens the oscillations of sound waves. Built-in damping is a crucial design element in technology that involves the creation of oscillations and vibrations.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.