Synonyms of dams

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• levees
• embankments
• canals
• dikes
• ramparts
• barriers
• weirs
• ditches
• locks
• heads
• barricades
• breakwaters
• gutters
• seawalls
• jetties
• channels
• blocks
• earthworks
• troughs
• sluices
• bulwarks
• breastworks
• barrages
• floodgates
• milldams
• stanks

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• blocks
• obstructs
• floods
• jams
• congests
• clogs
• stuffs
• fills
• occludes
• clots
• stops (up)
• plugs (up)
• chokes
• gums (up)
• corks
• packs
• silts
• furs
• spiles
• swamps
• stopples
• stoppers
• overwhelms
• inundates
• gridlocks
• bungs
• gluts

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unblocks
• frees
• opens (up)
• clears
• unplugs
• excavates
• scoops (out)
• unclogs
• hollows (out)
• empties
• unstops
• lightens

2

as in fills

to close up so that no empty spaces remain

dam up the pipes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fills
• plugs
• packs
• blocks
• seals
• stuffs
• clogs
• bungs
• congests
• stops
• caulks
• jams
• clots
• occludes
• closes (off)
• obstructs
• chinks
• chokes
• restuffs
• repacks

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• scoops (out)
• excavates
• shovels
• hollows (out)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dams

Noun

But that friendship was betrayed as settlers dried up the Gila with upstream dams and diversions. — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 3 July 2026

Other risks to metal production from El Nino include the potential for aluminum and zinc shortages caused by low water levels in hydroelectric dams in China’s southern Yunnan province. — Tim Treadgold, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

Crews hit the road this week to begin creating a database of conditions at culverts, bridges, dams, weirs and other manmade structures in Northwest Indiana streams. — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2026

Then came this spring’s historic and devastating floods across northern Michigan — in some areas, for the first time anyone can remember — swamping homes, pushing dams to the brink of failure and washing out roadways. — Tammy Webber, Fortune, 23 June 2026

Manipulating the timing of releases from dams on the western rivers could flood Pakistani farmland during planting seasons, while withholding water during critical irrigation windows could devastate harvests. — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 22 June 2026

Then April's record rainfall created more runoff than waterways, dams and culverts could handle. — CBS News, 22 June 2026

Both warring parties have increasingly launched explosive-laden drones that, in multiple cases, targeted civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, dams, schools, markets, and displacement camps. — ABC News, 15 June 2026

This journey requires them to climb fish ladders over dams, navigate culverts diverting streams under roads, and ascend up to elevations of 7,000 feet. — Idaho Statesman, 12 June 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