tamp
Americanverb (used with object)
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tamps,
present (3rd person singular)
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tamped,
past participle, past
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tamping
present participle
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to force in or down by repeated, rather light, strokes.
He tamped the tobacco in his pipe.
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(in blasting) to fill (a drilled hole) with earth or the like after the charge has been inserted.
verb
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to force or pack down firmly by repeated blows
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to pack sand, earth, etc into (a drill hole) over an explosive
verb
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(tr) to bounce (a ball)
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to pour with rain
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tampsimple
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tampssimple
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have tampedperfect
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has tampedperfect
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am tampingprogressive
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are tampingprogressive
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is tampingprogressive
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have been tampingperfect progressive
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has been tampingperfect progressive
Past
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tampedsimple
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had tampedperfect
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was tampingprogressive
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were tampingprogressive
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had been tampingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tamp
First recorded in 1810–20; perhaps alteration of tampion
Explanation
To tamp is to push or pack down a loose or granular material. If you work as a barista, you'll learn to tamp espresso grounds before running hot water through them. Before a road is paved or a patio is laid out, workers will tamp gravel to provide a sturdy, level base. Old-fashioned, muzzle-loading guns had to be filled with gunpowder, which the user would need to tamp firmly before firing. The tool used to do the tamping is sometimes also called a tamp.
Vocabulary lists containing tamp
The Birchbark House
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The Odyssey
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Prairie Lotus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He said the company was spending $1 million a day to get rid of the food, haul it to landfills and tamp down odors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Paoletta has also fought against the independent Government Accountability Office’s efforts to tamp down the OMB’s violations of budget law.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Snapchat is trying to tamp down on AI-generated videos.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
They are expected to provide clarity and tamp down unwarranted panic, not stoke conspiracy theories.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
Ebright was dead serious, and he needed to tamp down expectations in Berkeley.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
As the lack of workforce tamps down business growth, fewer U.S.-born workers are hired as a result.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
“Seeing all the results tamps down their unrealistic expectations,” he said, as they conclude for themselves that they need to rethink their retirement timetable.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2025
On “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” she deliberately tamps down some pop expectations while she warily embraces others.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2024
“I think the fact that we’re in Zoom session kind of tamps down on activism,” said Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
Afterward he tamps the channel through which the litharge discharges.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, for his part, has emphasized that inflation must be tamped down, but he has declined to specify how exactly the central bank is likely to handle stubborn price increases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Bettany, too, is more tamped down, more monkish as Salieri than his Oscar-winning screen predecessor, F. Murray Abraham.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
Vance tamped down expectations before leaving Washington on Friday morning.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
Sales more than likely will be tamped down by selling days lost to the snowstorm, lingering store closures, supply-chain delays, and shoppers riding out the frigid temperatures at home.
From Barron's ● Jan. 27, 2026
When he looked back at her, the pain was tamped down into something hammered and hard, locked behind his eyes.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
In its obituary, the William F. Buckley-founded National Review praised the former secretary of state as a man who spent his life tamping down turmoil.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
Travel + Leisure’s executives spent much of their investor call last week tamping down concerns about consumer wariness and creditworthiness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
That can work its way into the housing market by shrinking buyers’ budgets and tamping down on home-price growth.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
He surrounded him with structure and taught Bowden how to be better organized without tamping down his enthusiasm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025
In the spring, Phineas is back in Cavendish, carrying his tamping iron.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
