dams 1 of 2

noun

plural of dam
as in levees
a bank of earth constructed to control water the river backed up behind the dam until it formed a new lake

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dams

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of dam
1
as in blocks
to prevent passage through by filling with something ice floes were damming the river

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fills
to close up so that no empty spaces remain dam up the pipes

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dams
Noun
The governor’s office said the state was securing its harbors, deploying emergency personnel to strategic locations and monitoring dams for any possible breaches or overflows. — Dennis Romero, NBC news, 6 Sep. 2026 Data deployed across multiple platforms This constitutes a substantial addition to the country’s energy portfolio, given that only 3 percent of all domestic dams are equipped for power generation. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2026 Early settlers of the Valley constructed the Salt River's first dams and laid the groundwork for the area's future. — Alex Hager, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026 Beaver dams restrict water flow in a river, often creating ponds and wetlands. — Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026 This week, Nepal saw more than 430 megawatts of power –– enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes –– knocked offline after 12 dams were hit by the surge of floodwaters. — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026 The outburst flood sent more than 13 billion gallons (50 million cubic meters) of water rushing down the mountain, damaging several dams, more than 25,000 buildings and more than 30 bridges. — Umesh Haritashya, The Conversation, 29 Aug. 2026 In this week's catastrophe, hundreds have lost their homes across the Himalayan region, and officials reported large-scale damage to critical infrastructure, including hydropower dams, roads, buildings and bridges in the region. — CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026 They’re considered dangerous because the temporary dams can give way and cause a flood. — Stephen J. Beard, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
Verb
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asked experts to study what happened at the Edenville and Sanford dams. — ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026 Glacial outburst floods happen when the ice dams holding back glacial lakes fail, allowing a sudden release of water. — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dams
  1. levees
  2. blocks
  3. fills
  4. embankments
  5. obstructs
  6. plugs
  7. floods
  8. packs
Noun
  • Before floodwater began to rise, Abigail Erikson hadn’t planned to spend hours filling sandbags to save the community of Rocky Ripple as levees threatened failure.
    — Jen Guadarrama, IndyStar, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Another problem human measures like dams and levees seem to have created, the team argues, is a perception of safety.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of levees
Verb
  • Some told the Miami Herald that the ruling blocks the path to asylum and that the cases cannot be evaluated in a vacuum.
    — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Stopgap spending bill passes House The House voted yesterday to pass a stopgap government-funding bill that temporarily blocks the White House’s proposal to give political appointees more control over federal research grants.
    — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of blocks
Verb
  • Desperation fills their lives, amplified by physicians who dismiss their complaints as psychosomatic—in their heads—and then prescribe medications for mental health conditions, such as Prozac or Valium.
    — Jerome Groopman, The New York Review of Books, 5 Sep. 2026
  • The appointment fills a key leadership vacancy atop the nation's largest military branch.
    — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of fills
Noun
  • How levees work Levees are earthen embankments positioned parallel to a river that effectively raise the height of the banks of the river to prevent overflow when the river swells.
    — Kaleigh Yost, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Ewa Mroczkowska’s production design also turns dewy embankments, decadent interiors, and sunrises over cemeteries into visions of storybook-like decay.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of embankments
Verb
  • Don't tail large vehicles closely - Trucks or buses can kick up a water spray that obstructs visibility.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 13 July 2026
  • Anatasia steals a truck and obstructs their path, sacrificing herself to a bleak future, all in the name of love.
    — Hunter Ingram, Variety, 10 July 2026
Definition of obstructs
Verb
  • Wilson plugs a creative gap in the Leeds line-up off that inside-right channel.
    — Aston Villa, New York Times, 13 July 2026
  • The discovery also plugs a gap in our understanding of Venus's dense atmosphere.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 13 May 2026
Definition of plugs
Verb
  • The rabbit does not control the rain that floods its burrow or the drought that kills its food.
    — Chris Lee, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The camera moves constantly and visual information — lights, split screens, colors, sounds, movement — floods the viewer.
    — William Earl, Variety, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of floods
Verb
  • Crucially, the reactor core runs on TRISO particle fuel, which packs uranium inside four concentric isotropic layers of carbon and silicon carbide.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The Pro Max packs a 10,000-mAh silicon-carbon battery (with 16% silicon content), while certain markets get a 9,210-mAh variant engineered for the same long-term battery performance.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of packs

Browse Nearby Words

damps
dams
damsel
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Cite this Entry

“Dams.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dams. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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