damp
Americanadjective
-
damper,
comparative
-
dampest
superlative
noun
verb (used with object)
-
damps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
damped,
past participle, past
-
damping
present participle
-
to make damp; moisten.
- Synonyms:
- humidify
-
to check or retard the energy, action, etc., of; deaden; dampen.
A series of failures damped her enthusiasm.
-
to stifle or suffocate; extinguish.
to damp a furnace.
-
Acoustics, Music. to check or retard the action of (a vibrating string); dull; deaden.
-
Physics. to cause a decrease in amplitude of (successive oscillations or waves).
verb phrase
adjective
-
slightly wet, as from dew, steam, etc
-
archaic dejected
noun
-
slight wetness; moisture; humidity
-
rank air or poisonous gas, esp in a mine See also firedamp
-
a discouragement; damper
-
archaic dejection
verb
-
to make slightly wet
-
(often foll by down) to stifle or deaden
to damp one's ardour
-
(often foll by down) to reduce the flow of air to (a fire) to make it burn more slowly or to extinguish it
-
physics to reduce the amplitude of (an oscillation or wave)
-
music to muffle (the sound of an instrument)
Synonym Usage
Damp, humid, moist mean slightly wet. Damp usually implies slight and extraneous wetness, generally undesirable or unpleasant unless the result of intention: a damp cellar; to put a damp cloth on a patient's forehead. Humid is applied to unpleasant dampness in the air: The air is oppressively humid today. Moist denotes something that is slightly wet, naturally or properly: moist ground; moist leather.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dampsimple
-
dampssimple
-
have dampedperfect
-
has dampedperfect
-
am dampingprogressive
-
are dampingprogressive
-
is dampingprogressive
-
have been dampingperfect progressive
-
has been dampingperfect progressive
Past
-
dampedsimple
-
had dampedperfect
-
was dampingprogressive
-
were dampingprogressive
-
had been dampingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of damp
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English (in sense of damp def. 5 ); compare Middle Dutch damp, Middle High German dampf “vapor, smoke”
Explanation
Something that's damp is slightly wet or soggy. If your shoes are damp when you enter your friend's white-carpeted house, you should probably take them off. Damp things are moist. Your lawn might be damp with dew in the morning, and if it's supposed to rain lightly, the weather report might include the word damp. Sometimes damp is a noun, as when your grandmother warns, "Don't go out in the damp without your umbrella!" To damp is to hold back, make soft, or restrain: "Use your hand to damp the sound of the cymbal after you hit it with the drumstick."
Vocabulary lists containing damp
Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 1
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"Boar Out There" by Cynthia Rylant
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Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 1
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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:
But we experienced unprecedented heat for the time of year, punctuated by cold, damp days and followed by unexpectedly chilly nights.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
People can also soak their clothing in cold water or apply an iced or chilled damp towel to their body.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Eisenman added, people can practice “skin wetting,” which means keeping as much bare skin continuously damp as possible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
In Essex, Luke Weaver got in touch with BBC Your Voice because his new home had damp and mould that he believed was making his two-year-old son ill.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
She hung there, pea-green, with her damp veils plastered against her preserver and her hat over one ear.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
The recent cancellation of Marvel’s ‘Wonder Man’ may put a damper on the actor’s Emmy campaign, but he still has Netflix’s ‘Cliff Booth’ movie to look forward to.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Marriott said the conflict put a significant damper on second-quarter sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
"I think it really put a damper on all the watch parties," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
But only a slim margin will be left over, and that will put a damper on shareholder returns.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
You would think the cold weather might put a damper on the smells.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
“A basic plastic bin is fine for items stored inside, but Weathertight storage containers have a seal to keep out moisture, even in the dampest garages,” Allbee says.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2023
This was the dampest of damp nights on Tyneside, with a torrential cloudburst delivering a freezing cold shower all over Newcastle United's Champions League aspirations.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2023
In this mild winter, Friday seemed to be one of Washington’s dampest, chilliest, breeziest, and possibly even gloomiest, days of the year.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2023
And while it's a hearty meal for the dampest autumn evening, be sure save a little room afterward for some cookies, pie, cake — or all three.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2022
He pulled out the bottom ones, which were the dampest, and started to spread the others over the floor.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
Critics have also alleged that the measure damps the housing market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2024
Chloroquine might protect patients hospitalized with pneumonia against lethal cytokine storms because it damps down immune reactions, several doctors said.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2020
The slip-on grip looks like a wrap grip, but boasts some modern-day tech in the form of a proprietary compound that damps vibration while providing the necessary tackiness under a variety of conditions.
From Golf Digest ● Apr. 17, 2018
The shock absorber damps the motion and dissipates energy, analogous to the resistance in an RLC circuit.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
A quack doctor pitched patent medicines from the back of a wagon: “A rare cordial to fortify the innards against infective parasites, unwholesome damps, and malignant effluvia!”
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Short-haul travel demand has also been damped by concerns around fuel availability, routes and higher energy prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
A tax credit for installing solar panels expired last year, which has damped enthusiasm for residential solar stocks—although this is less of an issue for Sunrun’s subscription-based model.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
This car’s propulsion system—including a nine-speed automatic transmission and fully variable all-wheel drive—is so heavily damped and isolated it might as well be in another car.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
It damped the volatility around what the Fed might do next, which in turn helped hold down interest rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
My satisfaction damped itself when it occurred to me how foolish all of this was.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Despite an active El Niño, experts say the Southwestern United States likely won’t feel its damping effect until next year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
There’s a chance, experts noted, that this year’s El Niño could bring more fall rain, damping the Santa Ana winds’s ability to fuel fast-moving fires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
However, energy prices rising more sharply than assumed could prompt a further rise in prices while also damping economic activity, the Bundesbank said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
However, in a signal the conflict is damping demand, new orders dropped 3.8% on month in April, the first decline since January, Destatis said Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
Still, now and then, I received a damping check to my cheerfulness; and was, in spite of myself, thrown back on the region of doubts and portents, and dark conjectures.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
