vamp

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈvamp 

: a woman who uses her charm or wiles to seduce and exploit men

vampish

ˈvam-pish 

adjective

vamp

2 of 5

verb (1)

vamped; vamping; vamps

transitive verb

: to practice seductive wiles on

intransitive verb

: to act like a vamp

vamping for the camera

vamp

3 of 5

noun (2)

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 upper

2

[derivative of vamp entry 4] : a short introductory musical passage often repeated several times (as in vaudeville) before a solo or between verses

vamp

4 of 5

verb (2)

vamped; vamping; vamps

transitive verb

1

a

: to provide (a shoe) with a new vamp

b

: to piece (something old) with a new part : patch

vamp up old sermons

2

: invent, fabricate

vamp up an excuse

intransitive verb

1

: to play a musical vamp

2

: improvise, extemporize

vamper noun

vamper

5 of 5

noun (3)

vamp·​er

-mpə(r)

plural -s

1

[vamp entry 2 + -er] : one that vamps

2

[vamp entry 1 + -er] : a shoe worker who stitches vamps to quarters

Synonyms of vamp

Verb (2)

• devise
• think (up)
• construct
• cook (up)
• concoct
• invent
• come up with
• drum up

Examples of vamp in a Sentence

Verb (2)

political spin doctors who can vamp up a justification for just about anything

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The details shifted, but the low vamp, exposed heel and extended toe stayed in place. — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 23 June 2026

Molloy rages to his film crew, and Lestat’s duplicity plants a wedge between the vamps. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 23 June 2026

Verb

All of these actors are Black; the sight of Ward and Rose vamping in blonde wigs is intended both to jar and illuminate. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 9 June 2026

Dropkin is like a WWE star vamping to the crowd. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

short for vampire

Noun (2)

Middle English vampe, vaumpe "covering for the foot, upper of a shoe," borrowed from Anglo-French, probably truncated from *vampé, reduced form of avanpié, from avant- "fore-" + pié "foot," going back to Latin ped-, pēs — more at vanguard, foot entry 1

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1918, in the meaning defined above

Verb (1)

circa 1915, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun (2)

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1599, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Rhymes for vamp

• amp
• champ
• clamp
• cramp
• damp
• gamp
• lamp
• ramp
• samp
• scamp
• stamp
• tamp