tamp

[tamp]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tamp ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to force in or down by repeated, rather light, strokes: He tamped the tobacco in his pipe.

(in blasting) to fill (a drilled hole) with earth or the like after the charge has been inserted.

Nearby words

Origin of tamp

First recorded in 1810–20; perhaps alteration of tampion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tamp

Smiley, meanwhile, tried to tamp down fears by comparing the Ebola outbreak to the SARS outbreak of 2003.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: October 19|PunditFact.com|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There is still a window of opportunity to tamp it down, but that window is closing.
CDC Director: First U.S. Ebola Patient ‘Critically Ill’|Abby Haglage|September 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sure, water filter makers put a bit of bactericide in their products to tamp down the infestation.
Are Water Filters B.S.?|Michael Schulson|August 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To some degree, Washington colludes with China to tamp down the nuclear threat from North Korea.
A Winning Strategy for Iraq and Syria|Leslie H. Gelb|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

An executive of the National Auto Dealers Association claimed it would shut people out of the new car market and tamp down sales.
The Chicken Littles Are Wrong: Environmental Regulations Always Spur Innovation|Daniel Gross|June 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To this he affixed a cap and fuse, and clapping on his tamp of clay, lit the fuse, and ran into the tunnel.
The White Mice|Richard Harding Davis
Into this hole the pile is dropped, and the sea-waves in a moment fill in and tamp the sand around it.
The Columbia River|William Denison Lyman
Tampion, tamp′i-un, n. the stopper used to close the mouth of a cannon or mortar.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
I could tamp a keg of powder so snugly into the hole of those skunks!
The Face of the Fields|Dallas Lore Sharp
Machines designed to tamp the concrete and strike it off to the required cross section are also employed for finishing.
American Rural Highways|T. R. Agg

British Dictionary definitions for tamp

tamp

verb (tr)

to force or pack down firmly by repeated blows

to pack sand, earth, etc into (a drill hole) over an explosive

Word Origin for tamp

C17: probably a back formation from tampin (obsolete variant of tampion), which was taken as being a present participle tamping

verb South Wales dialect

(tr) to bounce (a ball)

(intr usually foll by down) to pour with rain

Word Origin for tamp

probably special use of tamp 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tamp

tamp

1819, "to fill (a hole containing an explosive) with dirt or clay before blasting," a workmen's word, perhaps a back-formation from tampion, that word being mistaken as a present participle (*tamping).

tamp

verb (used with object)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of tamp

Examples from the Web for tamp

tamp

verb (tr)

Word Origin for tamp

verb South Wales dialect

Word Origin for tamp

tamp