DAMP • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Damp

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adjective

Damp adj. (compar. damper; superl. dampest)

1.

Being in a state between dry and wet; moderately wet; moist; humid. "O'erspread with a damp sweat and holy fear."

2.

Dejected; depressed; sunk. (R.) "All these and more came flocking, but with looks Downcast and damp."

noun

Damp n.

1.

Moisture; humidity; fog; fogginess; vapor. "Night... with black air Accompanied, with damps and dreadful gloom."

2.

Dejection; depression; cloud of the mind. "Even now, while thus I stand blest in thy presence, A secret damp of grief comes o'er my soul." "It must have thrown a damp over your autumn excursion."

3.

(Mining) A gaseous product, formed in coal mines, old wells, pints, etc.

Choke damp, a damp consisting principally of carbonic acid gas; so called from its extinguishing flame and animal life. See Carbonic acid, under Carbonic.

Damp sheet, a curtain in a mine gallery to direct air currents and prevent accumulation of gas.

Fire damp, a damp consisting chiefly of light carbureted hydrogen; so called from its tendence to explode when mixed with atmospheric air and brought into contact with flame.

verb

Damp v. i. (past & past part. damped; pres. part. damping)

1.

To render damp; to moisten; to make humid, or moderately wet; to dampen; as, to damp cloth.

2.

To put out, as fire; to depress or deject; to deaden; to cloud; to check or restrain, as action or vigor; to make dull; to weaken; to discourage. "To damp your tender hopes." "Usury dulls and damps all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein money would be stirring if it were not for this slug." "How many a day has been damped and darkened by an angry word!" "The failure of his enterprise damped the spirit of the soldiers."

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Etymology of 'Damp'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Damp" Quotes from Famous Books

... alone. Consequently, Mary bought only necessaries, in the big, confusing shops that glared white in the foggy twilight, for Jennings as a companion was more depressing than the cold. She was middle-aged, very pinched and respectable in appearance, with a red nose, always damp at the end; and she disapproved of lace and ribbons on underclothing. Mrs. Home-Davis and Miss Elinor would never think of buying such things as Miss Grant admired. Jennings would have pioneered Miss Grant to the British and South Kensington museums if Miss Grant ...

— The Guests Of Hercules • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... said the Miller; 'why, that is just what I want for the roof of my barn. There is a very large hole in it, and the corn will all get damp if I don't stop it up. How lucky you mentioned it! It is quite remarkable how one good action always breeds another. I have given you my wheelbarrow, and now you are going to give me your plank. Of course, the wheelbarrow is worth far more than the plank, ...

— The Happy Prince and Other Tales • Oscar Wilde

... be like this from now on," he remarked to the shaken Gunga. "All these things wouldn't bother us as long as the machinery kept the building dry and cool. They couldn't live in here. But it's getting damp and hot. Look at the moisture ...

— Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930 • Various

... the sea, and the level of the local water reservoir into which our wells dip is about 80 feet below the surface. My gardener tells me that the tree has been "bleeding" at about the same rate for fourteen of the fifteen days, the first day the branch becoming only somewhat damp. During the earlier part of that time we had frosts at night, and sunshine, but with extremely cold winds, during the days. At one time the exuding sap gave, I am told by two different observers, icicles a foot long. A much warmer, almost summer, temperature has prevailed during ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 385, May 19, 1883 • Various

... cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones ...

— The 1991 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

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