noun

1. a barrier built to hold back flowing water
2. the water thus kept back
3. any barrier like a dam, as a rubber sheet used in dentistry to keep a tooth dry

Etymology: ME < Gmc base seen in MLowG, MDu dam, ON dammr, MHG tam, Goth faur-dammjan, to stop up < IE base *dhē, to set, put in place > do, L facere

transitive verb dammed, damming dam′·ming

1. to build a dam in
2. to keep back or confine by or as by a dam: usually with up

noun

1. the female parent of any four-legged animal
2. Archaic a mother

Etymology: ME, var. of dame, dame