noun
- a barrier built to hold back flowing water
- the water thus kept back
- any barrier like a dam, as a rubber sheet used in dentistry to keep a tooth dry
Origin:
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
- to build a dam in
- to keep back or confine by or as by a dam: usually with up