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:
On the day we met at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, Haaland’s hair was still shoulder length and a bit damp from a post-practice shower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
If you live along the East Coast, you’ve probably had a damp few days.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
Warnings had not been heeded that damp ash conducts electricity, short circuiting power lines and substations.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 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
“Gallery Seventeen: Overuse of Symbolism in Minor Historical Portraits,” she announced, stomping the muck from her damp shoes.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
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
Along with a negative reaction to results from chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, that has put a damper on tech stocks in early trading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 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
It was "a painfully tedious TV non-event" that had "the dampest squib of a finale", the Guardian's Leila Latif wrote.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 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
Like sea things retreating with the ocean’s tide, water snakes and muskrats went back to the green areas along ditches and in the dampest vegas.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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
A three-piece badge in the back cavity that combines aluminum, a soft thermoplastic polyurethane material and acrylic damps vibration for better sound and feel.
From Golf Digest ● Oct. 30, 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
The impact of wholesale gas prices on wholesale electricity prices has been damped by a shift toward electricity generated from renewables, they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The ride and roadholding compromise is well struck, with road impacts well damped and muffled, and transient body motions kept in check.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Vail Resorts MTN 1.36%increase; green up pointing triangle once again cut its outlook for the year, citing historically challenging weather conditions across the western U.S. that have continually damped demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
—Asian equity markets largely retreated as escalating geopolitical and trade tensions damped investors’ risk appetite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
"Hooroo, Hooroo," cried Merlyn, refusing to be damped.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
The damping effects of the energy-price shock on the economy now look weaker, Ifo noted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 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
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
Now we have active suspension damping, which the Journal’s Dan Neil has reviewed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
A warm soft drizzle was falling over the parched meadows and dry woodland, bringing relief after the hot dry day, damping down the dust from the road.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
