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Webster 1913 Edition

Dam

Dam

(dăm)
,
Noun.
[OE.
dame
mistress, lady; also, mother, dam. See
Dame
.]
1.
A female parent; – used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother.
Our
sire
and
dam
, now confined to horses, are a relic of this age (13th century) . . . .
Dame
is used of a hen; we now make a great difference between
dame
and
dam
.
T. L. K. Oliphant.
The
dam
runs lowing up and down,
Looking the way her harmless young one went.
Shakespeare
2.
A king or crowned piece in the game of draughts.

Dam

,
Noun.
[Akin to OLG., D., & Dan.
dam
, G. & Sw.
damm
, Icel.
dammr
, and AS.
fordemman
to stop up, Goth.
Faúrdammjan
.]
1.
A barrier to prevent the flow of a liquid; esp., a bank of earth, or wall of any kind, as of masonry or wood, built across a water course, to confine and keep back flowing water.
2.
(Metal.)
A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.
Dam plate
(Blast Furnace)
,
an iron plate in front of the dam, to strengthen it.

Dam

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dammed
(dămd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Damming
.]
1.
To obstruct or restrain the flow of, by a dam; to confine by constructing a dam, as a stream of water; – generally used with
in
or
up
.
I’ll have the current in this place
dammed
up.
Shakespeare
A weight of earth that
dams
in the water.
Mortimer.
2.
To shut up; to stop up; to close; to restrain.
The strait pass was
dammed

With dead men hurt behind, and cowards.
Shakespeare
To dam out
,
to keep out by means of a dam.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dam

DAM

, n.
1.
A female parent; used of beasts, particularly of quadrupeds.
2.
A human mother, in contempt.
3.
A crowned man in the game of draughts.

DAM

,
Noun.
A mole, bank or mound of earth, or any wall, or a frame of wood, raised to obstruct a current of water, and to raise it, for the purpose of driving millwheels, or for other purposes. Any work that stops and confines water in a pond or bason, or causes it to rise.

DAM

, v.t.
1.
To make a dam, or to stop a stream of water by a bank of earth, or by any other work; to confine or shut in water. It is common to use, after the verb, in, up, or out; as, to dam in, or to dam up, the water, and to dam out is to prevent water from entering.
2.
To confine or restrain from escaping; to shut in.

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