dam
noun
a barrier to obstruct the flow of water, especially one of earth, masonry, etc., built across a stream or river.
dam
1 American
[dam]
/ dæm /
noun
-
a barrier to obstruct the flow of water, especially one of earth, masonry, etc., built across a stream or river.
-
a body of water confined by a dam.
-
any barrier resembling a dam.
dam
2
American
[dam]
/ dæm /
noun
dam
3
American
abbreviation
Dam
4
American
[dam, dahm]
/ dæm, dɑm /
noun
dam
1
British
/ dæm /
noun
-
a barrier of concrete, earth, etc, built across a river to create a body of water for a hydroelectric power station, domestic water supply, etc
-
a reservoir of water created by such a barrier
-
something that resembles or functions as a dam
verb
Dam
2
British
/ dam /
noun
dam
3
British
/ dæm /
noun
dam
4
British
/ dæm /
interjection
dam
5
British
symbol
dam
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
damsimple
-
damssimple
-
have dammedperfect
-
has dammedperfect
-
am dammingprogressive
-
are dammingprogressive
-
is dammingprogressive
-
have been dammingperfect progressive
-
has been dammingperfect progressive
Past
-
dammedsimple
-
had dammedperfect
-
was dammingprogressive
-
were dammingprogressive
-
had been dammingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dam1
1275–1325; Middle English < Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, dam; akin to Old English for-demman to stop up, block
Origin of dam2
1250–1300; Middle English; variant of dame
Explanation
A barrier built to block the flow of water is called a dam. If you walk along a stream, you can see where beavers have built a dam out of mud and logs. As a verb, dam means to obstruct or blockade as with a dam. If the kids you're babysitting dam up the bathtub drain when you're not paying attention, the water might overflow and cause a waterfall into the living room downstairs. But water isn't the only thing that can be dammed. You shouldn't dam up your emotions — go ahead and scream if you need to.
Vocabulary lists containing dam
"A Modest Proposal," Vocabulary from the satire
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East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - Introductory
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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:
After Rising sued, the city’s attorney argued that the dam collapse was “an act of God,” even though Mulholland admitted responsibility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The dam, he said, “was the creature of the city of Los Angeles.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
After a 2016 accusation linked to the targeting of banks and a dam outside New York City, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said the US should prove such accusations.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
At Slovakia's Gabcikovo dam, further upstream again, lock operations have slowed down, causing longer waiting times, and captains are being urged to check their vessels' navigability.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Then she toppled off the dam and into the pond.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
Earlier in July, local journalists were asked to "soften" their language to describe a major breach in the wall of the Liulan Dam near Naning as an "opening" or "gap".
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
California naturalist John Muir compared the two valleys’ beauties, but that was before Hetch Hetchy Valley was transformed by the O’Shaughnessy Dam into a massive reservoir.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Unlike Hoover Dam, which exults in exertion, the Gateway Arch seems effortless.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Commercial speculation is only one lobe of the American story; so too is public-spiritedness, of which there is no better example than Hoover Dam.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Tocks Dam would have held one of the largest artificial reservoirs in the world, with forty miles of water behind it.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
But for now through early October, with little rain and seasonal dams controlling the water’s flow, this might be California’s laziest river.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
He labelled rogue bankers as "half-wits" and said the dams and flood dykes lining the Yangtze River were as "flimsy and porous as tofu dregs".
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Of all the dams I have built and of all the dams I have ever seen, it was the driest dam of its size I ever saw in my life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Switzerland is less exposed than some of its European neighbors to swings in energy prices, given its more diverse energy mix that features hydroelectric dams and nuclear power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
These lakes are prone to failing because they are precariously dammed by walls made of frozen earth, rocks and ice created by the movement of a glacier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
Some Alaskans are evacuating their homes as meltwater escapes a basin dammed by the Mendenhall Glacier - raising fears of record-breaking flooding in the US state's capital city.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2025
A creek had been dammed, creating ponds that slowed the flow of water so the surrounding earth had more time to sop it up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2024
It is dammed by a massive ridge of rubble that the glacier piled up over thousands of years.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 10, 2024
The Portuguese dammed up the river and flooded the whole valley.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Growing up in rural Monmouthshire, she regularly got covered in mud and played for hours in the woods with her younger brother, damming rivers and making dens.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
Andrew Law, a sociologist at Newcastle University in the U.K., has used lidar mapping to digitally preserve structures along China’s Yangtze River that were threatened or wiped out by extensive damming.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2025
Habitat destruction, damming, and pollution have decimated local populations, such that many species are in dire need of help.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
The roly-poly rodents chew up and move around large amounts of plant material, damming streams to create ponds where they can hide from predators.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2024
And he pushed the King out of the door, damming it in his face.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
