Damp meaning
A damp sponge.
When you dab a shirt with a wet towel to get a stain out and you make the shirt slightly wet, this is an example of when you damp.
When you try to stop yourself from feeling sad and crying, this is an example of when you damp your emotions.
When you reduce how hot or bright a fire is burning, this is an example of when you damp.
Damp air.
A shirt that was taken out of the dryer before it is completely dry is an example of something that would be described as damp.
News that damped our enthusiasm.
O'erspread with a damp sweat and holy fear - John Dryden.
The lawn was still damp so we decided not to sit down.
The paint is still damp, so please don't touch it.
To damp your tender hopes - Mark Akenside.
Usury dulls and damps all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein money would be stirring if it were not for this slug - Francis Bacon.
How many a day has been damped and darkened by an angry word! - Sir John Lubbock.
The failure of his enterprise damped the spirit of the soldiers. - Thomas Babington Macaulay.
Hollow rollers damp vibration. - [1]
- to wither and die because of mildew, as seedlings, plant shoots, etc.
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of damp
- Middle English poison gas perhaps from Middle Dutch vapor
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- Akin to Low German damp, Dutch damp, and Danish damp (“vapor, steam, fog”), German Dampf, Icelandic dampi, Swedish damm (“dust”), and to German dampf imperative of dimpfen (“to smoke”). Also Old English dampen (“to choke, suffocate”).
From Wiktionary