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
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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:
He said heavy rain could overwhelm drainage systems and penetrate walls, causing damp and erosion, while repeated cycles of wetting, drying, freezing and thawing could harm stonework.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
If you live along the East Coast, you’ve probably had a damp few days.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
More broadly, traders are beginning to more seriously worry about how higher yields could weigh on stock valuations and damp the appeal of holding equities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
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
Rowan threaded his fingers more tightly through Star's soft, damp coat.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
“Bond yields went up over the last couple of days, and so I think that can put a damper on some of these higher-multiple stocks,” Michael Monaghan, portfolio manager at Founders ETFs, told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
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 International MAR -0.71%decrease; down pointing triangle said the conflict in Iran put a significant damper on second-quarter sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
"I think it really put a damper on all the watch parties," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
He was in the floor-covering business in Houston, but high interest rates kind of put a damper on that.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
“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, instead, the dampest of damp squibs, published after quite the bust-up behind closed doors.
From BBC ● May 3, 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
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
Spending on new factories, warehouses and other industrial sites has been damped by rising costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
These electronically damped wheeled selectors offer three axes of input, using microtorque feedback to imitate the bump and tug of physical detents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Some digital investments seemed wild at the time, like when Diller stuck with his bid for Expedia after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks halted flights and damped travel demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Sales growth slowed for U.S. retailers in April, damped by a cooler increase in gasoline prices as the Iran conflict continued.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 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
In the Comfort ride mode, drivers have the option to engage active longitudinal and/or lateral damping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 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
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
This could lead to technologies such as frictional metamaterials, adaptive damping systems, and contactless control components.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2026
And there was a pleasure in my services, most full, most exquisite, even though sad—because he claimed these services without painful shame or damping humiliation.
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.
