1
a
: a barrier preventing the flow of water or of loose solid materials (such as soil or snow)
a beaver dam
an ice dam
especially, civil engineering
: a barrier built across a watercourse for impounding (see impound sense 2) water
b
: a barrier to check the flow of liquid, gas, or air
2
: a body of water confined by a barrier
dammed; damming
1
: to provide or restrain with a barrier that prevents the flow of water : to provide or restrain with a dam (see dam entry 1 sense 1a)
dam a river
2
: to stop up : block
damming up their emotions
zoology
: the female parent of an animal and especially of a domestic animal
the foal's dam
dekameter
Synonyms
Examples of dam in a Sentence
Verb
ice floes were damming the river
Recent Examples on the Web
Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024
On April 3, workers with Prus Construction took a small, flat-bottomed boat out a few feet from the shore by the dam and climbed atop a stone box where two wheels sat.
—The Enquirer, 23 Apr. 2024
Read Next National 2 kayakers vanish after getting swept over dam, Indiana officials say.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 23 Apr. 2024
Rescue crews found the body of Marcus Robinson, 30, about 6 p.m. Monday near West 10th Street and North White River Parkway West Drive, which is about a mile from the low-head dam where he was last seen.
—Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Apr. 2024
The country had a lot of hydropower, but years of drought in the 1990s and 2000s slashed the dams’ output.
—Delger Erdenesanaa, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
Four other barges that drifted past both dams into Moon Township were retrieved by tugboats.
—USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024
Four major dams on the Klamath River on the California-Oregon border are now being removed.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
Bass can be found near submerged or emergent vegetation, woody cover, docks, rocks, and manmade structures like dams and bridges.
—Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 3 Apr. 2024
Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
The sites, spanning in age from 1559 to the early 1900s, include early ports and settlements as well as seven shipwrecks explored through damming, dredging, and diving.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
Why Seattle dammed the Skagit River Between 1890 and 1910, Skagit County’s population increased by 234 percent, while King County’s (50 miles south of the former logjam and home to Seattle) grew by 345 percent.
—Adam M. Sowards, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 May 2023
By the early 1980s, after the river had been dammed to create a spectacular lake with many tendrils of waterways, the location—midway between Atlanta and Augusta—proved the perfect place to lay down permanent roots.
—Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024
At the same time, in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Gila River Indian Community, which has relied on its eponymous river for farming for millennia, was thrust into crisis and famine when the river was dammed upstream.
—Arlyssa D. Becenti, The Arizona Republic, 1 Mar. 2024
The plan brokered by the Biden administration pauses long-running litigation over federal dam operations and represents the most significant step yet toward eventually taking the four Snake River dams down.
—Matthew Daly, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2024
The country will need to dam even more rivers to guarantee water through the end of the century.
—Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 10 Jan. 2024
An Ancient Lake About 16 million years ago, a lava flow in what would one day become Clarkia, Idaho, dammed a local drainage system and created a deep lake in a narrow, steep-sided valley.
—Robert Patalano, Discover Magazine, 9 Feb. 2024
Noun
So said Kenneth Brink, vice chair of the Karuk Tribe, during the first major release of coho salmon into the Klamath River since the removal of four dams near the California-Oregon state line began last year.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024
On April 3, workers with Prus Construction took a small, flat-bottomed boat out a few feet from the shore by the dam and climbed atop a stone box where two wheels sat.
—The Enquirer, 23 Apr. 2024
Read Next National 2 kayakers vanish after getting swept over dam, Indiana officials say.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 23 Apr. 2024
Rescue crews found the body of Marcus Robinson, 30, about 6 p.m. Monday near West 10th Street and North White River Parkway West Drive, which is about a mile from the low-head dam where he was last seen.
—Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Apr. 2024
The country had a lot of hydropower, but years of drought in the 1990s and 2000s slashed the dams’ output.
—Delger Erdenesanaa, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
Four other barges that drifted past both dams into Moon Township were retrieved by tugboats.
—USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024
Four major dams on the Klamath River on the California-Oregon border are now being removed.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
Bass can be found near submerged or emergent vegetation, woody cover, docks, rocks, and manmade structures like dams and bridges.
—Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 3 Apr. 2024
Verb
Beavers can help prevent wildfire damage in certain types of California landscapes, by damming creeks to slow the flow of water, spreading moisture through floodplains and felling trees.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
The sites, spanning in age from 1559 to the early 1900s, include early ports and settlements as well as seven shipwrecks explored through damming, dredging, and diving.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
Why Seattle dammed the Skagit River Between 1890 and 1910, Skagit County’s population increased by 234 percent, while King County’s (50 miles south of the former logjam and home to Seattle) grew by 345 percent.
—Adam M. Sowards, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 May 2023
By the early 1980s, after the river had been dammed to create a spectacular lake with many tendrils of waterways, the location—midway between Atlanta and Augusta—proved the perfect place to lay down permanent roots.
—Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024
At the same time, in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Gila River Indian Community, which has relied on its eponymous river for farming for millennia, was thrust into crisis and famine when the river was dammed upstream.
—Arlyssa D. Becenti, The Arizona Republic, 1 Mar. 2024
The plan brokered by the Biden administration pauses long-running litigation over federal dam operations and represents the most significant step yet toward eventually taking the four Snake River dams down.
—Matthew Daly, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2024
The country will need to dam even more rivers to guarantee water through the end of the century.
—Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 10 Jan. 2024
An Ancient Lake About 16 million years ago, a lava flow in what would one day become Clarkia, Idaho, dammed a local drainage system and created a deep lake in a narrow, steep-sided valley.
—Robert Patalano, Discover Magazine, 9 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dam.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near dam
Cite this Entry
“Dam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dam. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dam
1 of 3 noun
: the female parent especially of a domestic animal
dam
2 of 3 noun1
: a barrier preventing the flow of water
2
: a body of water held back by a dam
dam
3 of 3 verb
dammed; damming
1
: to provide or restrain with a dam
dam a stream
2
: to stop up : block
dammed-up feelings
Etymology
Noun
Middle English dam, dame "lady, female parent"
Noun
Middle English dam "barrier to hold back water"
Medical Definition
dam
1 of 3 noun
: a female parent
—used especially of a domestic animal
dam
2 of 3 noun
: rubber dam see dental dam
dam
3 of 3 abbreviation
dekameter
Biographical Definition
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share