rising damp

British  

noun

1. capillary movement of moisture from the ground into the walls of buildings. It results in structural damage up to a level of three feet

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Example Sentences

Her current two-bedroom terraced home in Aberdare in the south Wales valleys has rising damp, so she needs to find somewhere else to live.

From BBC • May 11, 2022

Already, higher water levels cause rising damp in Venice’s ageing walls, crumbling the bricks and rusting the ties that hold up the buildings.

From The Guardian • Dec. 10, 2019

Cohen was growing weary of London’s rising damp and its gray skies.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 10, 2016

At Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park, rising damp and eroding mortar are causing walls and foundations to collapse and roofs to sag, slowly destroying many of its 585 pre-Columbian cliff dwellings.

From US News • Aug. 19, 2016

Seeing this, Mr. Morton had put away his book, and drawn up his chair beside them, while Mrs. Morton, regardless of falling dews and rising damp, had followed the example of her husband.

From St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, V. 5, Nov 1877-Nov 1878 Scribner's Illustrated by Dodge, Mary Mapes