dam

dam

1. (metrology) Symbol for the decameter (decametre), an SI unit of length equal to 10¹ meters (metres).

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /dæm/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -æm
• Homophone: damn

From Middle English dam, damme, from Old English *dam, *damm (inferred from derivative fordemman (“to hem in”)), from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

dam (plural dams)

1. A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting
   some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding

   A dam is often an essential source of water to farmers of hilly country.

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

     Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins … .

   • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:

     Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.

2. The water reservoir resulting from placing such structure.

   Boats may only be used at places set aside for boating on the dam

3. (dentistry) A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet during dental work, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.
4. (South Africa, Australia) A reservoir.
5. A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.
6. (India) An obsolete Indian copper coin, equal to a fortieth of a rupee.
   • 1839, William Holloway, A General Dictionary of Provincialisms, Written with a View to Rescue from Oblivion the Fast Fading Relics of By-gone Days, Lewes, East Sussex: Sussex Press: Printed and published by Baxter and Son, OCLC 3138091, page 42:

     […] A small Indian coin; whence comes the saying "I don't care a dam for you," that is I don't value you a farthing, and not as generally given, "I don't care a damn" or a "curse for you." [Possibly a folk etymology.]

dam (third-person singular simple present dams, present participle damming, simple past and past participle dammed)

1. To block the flow of water.

• dam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Variant of dame.

dam (plural dams)

1. Female parent, mother, generally regarding breeding of animals (correlative to sire).
   • Shakespeare

     The dam runs lowing up and down, / Looking the way her harmless young one went.

   • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     Hunters assure us, that to chuse the best dog, and which they purpose to keepe from out a litter of other young whelps, there is no better meane than the damme herselfe […].

   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, I:

     she / Resolved that Juan should be quite a paragon, / And worthy of the noblest pedigree / (His sire was from Castile, his dam from Aragon) […].

   • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, 1992, p.112:

     The sky was cloudless—the moon rolled across the surface like a lamb searching for its dam.

2. A kind of crowned piece in the game of draughts.

dam (plural dams)

1. A former coin of Nepal, 128 of which were worth one mohar.

• Dam in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

• ADM, AMD, Adm., DMA, MAD, MDA, adm., mad

From Dutch dam, from Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

dam (plural damme)

1. pond, basin
2. dam

• opgaardam
• studam

From English dam, from Middle English dam, damme, from Old English *dam, *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

dam

1. a dam; a structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow
2. a reservoir

dam

1. stable
2. roof
3. taste

• (stable): aran
• (taste): lezet, nezet, tat, dad

From Old Norse dammr (“dam”).

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite damme)

1. pond
2. corf, livewell (for storage of live fish under water)

• dambrug n

Borrowed from French jeu de dames (“draughts”).

dam c or n

1. draughts, checkers

Borrowed from French dame (“lady”).

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite dammer)

1. king (superior piece in draughts)

• IPA^(key): /dɑm/

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• Hyphenation: dam
• Rhymes: -ɑm

From Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

dam m (plural dammen, diminutive dammetje n)

1. dam

• beverdam
• lavadam
• muurdam
• stuwdam
• visdam
• Amsterdam
• Rotterdam

• Afrikaans: dam

Borrowed from Middle French dame, from Spanish dama.

dam f (plural dammen)

1. (checkers) king (double draught/checker)

• dammen

See the etymology of the main entry.

dam

1. first-person singular present indicative of dammen
2. imperative of dammen

Borrowed from Latin damnum.

• IPA^(key): /dɑ̃/

dam m (plural dams)

1. (obsolete except in phrases) damage
2. (religion) damnation

• au grand dam de

• dommage

• “dam” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• AMD

From Latin damnum.

dam m (plural dams)

1. damage

• daneç

• danâ

dam (emphatic damsa)

1. Alternative form of dom (“for/to me”)

dam

1. flat

• https://inter.payap.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/linguistics_students/Luk_Hkaw_Thesis2017.pdf

dam

1. dally, stall

From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?]. Sense 3 is from French jeu de dames.

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammer, definite plural dammene)

1. a pond
2. a dam (structure)
3. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

• demning (structure)

• “dam” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?]. Sense 3 is from French jeu de dames.

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammar, definite plural dammane)

1. a pond
2. a dam (structure)
3. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

• demning (structure)

• “dam” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /daṽ/

From Proto-Celtic *damos (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂-

dam m (genitive daim)

1. ox
2. stag
3. (by extension) hero, champion

• Irish: damh
• Manx: dow
• Scottish Gaelic: damh

dam f

1. hind, cow (old feminine form of previous)

Inflected forms of daimid.

dam

1. first-person singular present subjunctive conjunct of daimid
2. Alternative form of daim

·dam

1. Alternative form of ·daim

dam

1. Alternative form of dom (“to/for me”)

• “1 dam” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
• “2 dam” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

• IPA^(key): /dam/

dam

1. first-person singular future of dać

dam

1. genitive plural of dama

From Bengali [Term?].

dam

1. price

• audio

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• IPA^(key): /dɑːm/

dam c

1. a lady, a woman
2. (card games) a queen

   Ruter dam

   Queen of diamonds

3. (chess) a queen

• (in chess): drottning

• dam in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)

From Old Turkic [script needed] (tam), from Proto-Turkic *Tām (“roof; wall; hut”).

Compare Uyghur تام‎ (tam, “wall”), Korean 담 (dam, “wall”).

• IPA^(key): /dɑm/

dam (definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

1. roof

• *Tām Starostin, Sergei; Dybo, Anna; Mudrak, Oleg (2003) Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill

dam (plural damlar)

1. bellows