Library / English Dictionary

DAMP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A slight wetness

Synonyms:

damp; dampness; moistness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("damp" is a kind of...):

wetness (the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "damp"):

clamminess; dankness (unpleasant wetness)

rawness (a chilly dampness)

Derivation:

damp (slightly wet)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Slightly wet

Example:

eyes moist with tears

Synonyms:

damp; dampish; moist

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

wet (covered or soaked with a liquid such as water)

Derivation:

damp; dampness (a slight wetness)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lessen in force or effect

Example:

break a fall

Synonyms:

break; damp; dampen; soften; weaken

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "damp" is one way to...):

blunt; deaden (make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "damp"):

deafen (make soundproof)

damp; dampen; deaden (make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

damper (a movable iron plate that regulates the draft in a stove or chimney or furnace)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible

Example:

muffle the message

Synonyms:

damp; dampen; deaden

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "damp" is one way to...):

break; damp; dampen; soften; weaken (lessen in force or effect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

damper (a device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Restrain or discourage

Example:

the sudden bad news damped the joyous atmosphere

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "damp" is one way to...):

check; contain; control; curb; hold; hold in; moderate (lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

damper (a depressing restraint)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

Synonyms:

damp; dampen; dull; muffle; mute; tone down

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "damp" is one way to...):

soften (make (images or sounds) soft or softer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

damper (a device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Mortimer Tregennis explained that the night was cold and damp.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

How welcome was that breath of sweet, damp air after the fetid atmosphere of the supper-room.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you have damp or wet spots in your house, you will probably get mold.

(Molds, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Damp would of course have removed this.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Come on, everybody drink," Joe called, as they rattled the dice and rolled them out on the damp bar.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A feedback is an enhancement (positive feedback) or a damping (negative feedback) of an initial change, in this case in the climate system.

(Climatic feedback mechanisms, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

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.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He did not suppose they could be damp now, in the middle of the day.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Anne could do no more; but her heart prophesied some mischance to damp the perfection of her felicity.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

“This is so favourite a walk of mine,” said Miss Tilney, “that I always think it the best and nearest way. But perhaps it may be damp.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)