dam

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“
The Itaipu dam was the worlds largest hydroelectric dam, until the Chinese built the Three gorges dam on the Yangtze river afew years back, the dam is a few kilometres out of town, we took a local bus out to the visitor centre, where they have guided tours, luckily for free (I like that word).

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Definitions (37)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. noun A barrier constructed across a waterway to control the flow or raise the level of water.
  2. noun A body of water controlled by such a barrier.
  3. noun A barrier against the passage of liquid or loose material, as a rubber sheet used in dentistry to isolate one or more teeth from the rest of the mouth.
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Examples (50)

  • The crest of the dam was again submerged in 10 or 15 minutes, but this time by less water, and the water receded sooner. —  FAULT LINE
  • Yet more impressive than the dam was the city of Kronstadt itself, the fortifications unnervingly solid against the sky, their grey stone as forbidding as the steely waves that beat against the shore. —  Hostage to Murder – McDermid, Val – Lindsay Gordon 06
  • "Even if you try to control access, the dam is already broken," Paul said. —  CNN.com
  • Sunday, January 25 2009: A quilt of lily pads, solar phenomena and a gorgeous shot of the water running over a dam are among the photos that have been submitted by Tri-State-area amateur photographers. —  The Herald-Mail Online
  • Obturator paralysis of the dam is another common result that occurs when the hips of the calf are too wide to pass easily through the pelvis of the dam. —  CattleNetwork
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

reservoir ·  fortification ·  rampart ·  aqueduct ·  pond ·  bridge ·  waterfall ·  canal ·  fortress ·  barrier ·  ditch ·  building

Used in the same contextWord Family

dam:   dams ·  dammed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English.
  2. Middle English dam, dame, lady, mother; see dame.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. Early modern English also damme; from Middle English dam, damme, a dam, a body of water hemmed in, from Anglo-Saxon *damm (not recorded, but no doubt existent, as the source of the verb, q. v.) = OFries. dam, dom = Dutch dam = Middle Low German Low German dam = Middle High German tam, German damm (after D.), a dike, = Icelandic dammr = Swedish dam = Danish dam = Gothic (Moesogothic) *damms, a dam, inferred from the verb faurdammjan: see dam, v.
  2. Early modern English also damme; from Middle English *dammen (found only with change of vowel, demmen, used passively, be hemmed in, from Anglo-Saxon *demman, only in once-occurring comp. for-demman = Gothic (Moesogothic) faur-dammjan, stop up) = Middle Dutch, Dutch dammen = Middle Low German dammen = German dämmen = Icelandic demma = Swedish dämma = Danish dæmme, dam; all from the noun.
  3. from Middle English damme, usually dame, the mother of a beast; merely a particular use of dame, a woman: see dame. Cf. a like use of sire.
  4. See dams.
 

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/dæm/
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