Main Entry:

¹vamp

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English vampe part of a hose leg or shoe covering the forefoot, vamp, from Anglo-French, alteration of avanpié, from avant- fore- + pié foot, from Latin ped-, pes — more at vanguard, foot

Date:

14th century

1: the part of a shoe upper or boot upper covering especially the forepart of the foot and sometimes also extending forward over the toe or backward to the back seam of the upper2 [¹vamp] : a short introductory musical passage often repeated several times (as in vaudeville) before a solo or between verses