tamp
Americanverb (used with object)
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tamps,
present (3rd person singular)
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tamped,
past participle, past
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tamping
present participle
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to force in or down by repeated, rather light, strokes.
He tamped the tobacco in his pipe.
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(in blasting) to fill (a drilled hole) with earth or the like after the charge has been inserted.
verb
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to force or pack down firmly by repeated blows
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to pack sand, earth, etc into (a drill hole) over an explosive
verb
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(tr) to bounce (a ball)
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to pour with rain
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tampsimple
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tampssimple
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have tampedperfect
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has tampedperfect
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am tampingprogressive
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are tampingprogressive
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is tampingprogressive
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have been tampingperfect progressive
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has been tampingperfect progressive
Past
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tampedsimple
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had tampedperfect
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was tampingprogressive
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were tampingprogressive
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had been tampingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tamp
First recorded in 1810–20; perhaps alteration of tampion
Explanation
To tamp is to push or pack down a loose or granular material. If you work as a barista, you'll learn to tamp espresso grounds before running hot water through them. Before a road is paved or a patio is laid out, workers will tamp gravel to provide a sturdy, level base. Old-fashioned, muzzle-loading guns had to be filled with gunpowder, which the user would need to tamp firmly before firing. The tool used to do the tamping is sometimes also called a tamp.
Vocabulary lists containing tamp
The Birchbark House
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The Odyssey
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Prairie Lotus
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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:
Alex Clark, a popular podcast host in the Turning Point USA network, has also been struggling to tamp down her anger over this.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Paoletta has also fought against the independent Government Accountability Office’s efforts to tamp down the OMB’s violations of budget law.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Snapchat is trying to tamp down on AI-generated videos.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Peter’s inner despair gets externalized when he invents a genetic inhibitor neck implant to tamp down his sensitivity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Bobby Gene and I muddled our way through breakfast, trying to tamp down our excitement.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
When I exclaim aloud at this huge number, he tamps down my amazement: “No, no. There’s so much left—90% of this music is still unrecovered, unknown.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
“Seeing all the results tamps down their unrealistic expectations,” he said, as they conclude for themselves that they need to rethink their retirement timetable.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2025
On “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” she deliberately tamps down some pop expectations while she warily embraces others.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2024
Before he steps in the box for each at-bat, Kelenic takes the end of his Victus bat and tamps a small indentation out in front of the center of the plate.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2023
When he has made the ashes smooth by pressing them with his hands, he makes the crucible slope down toward the middle; then he tamps it, as I have described, with a rammer.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, for his part, has emphasized that inflation must be tamped down, but he has declined to specify how exactly the central bank is likely to handle stubborn price increases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Vance tamped down expectations before leaving Washington on Friday morning.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
With all these factors taken into consideration, Reback believes Azure revenue acceleration is “unlikely” in the near term and likely will be tamped down by supply constraints and competitive pressure.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
Auto Show, and that “fanfare over the electric future was decidedly tamped down.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2025
He had to cut through the crowd to reach it, and the throng was packed in and tamped down.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
The town has been bullish in preserving its way of life, including attempting to remove an unpermitted art installation on a rancher’s property and tamping down on noisy jets at a regional airport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
That can work its way into the housing market by shrinking buyers’ budgets and tamping down on home-price growth.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
But Agnes is a mystery even to herself, it seems, tamping down her feelings until they come tumbling out in strange ways.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2025
The brain can direct the immune system to an unexpected degree, capable of detecting, ramping up and tamping down inflammation, shows a new study in mice from researchers at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute.
From Science Daily ● May 1, 2024
Nadia accomplished this by wetting portions of Ginger's fur and tamping them down.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
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.
