Dam word meaning and definition

[noun] female parent of an animal especially domestic livestock
[noun] a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water or to keep out the sea
[noun] a metric unit of length equal to ten meters
[verb] obstruct with, or as if with, a dam

\Dam\, n. [OE. dame mistress, lady; also, mother, dam. See {Dame}.] 1. A female parent; -- used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother. Our sire and dam, now confined to horses, are a relic of this age (13th century) . . . .Dame is used of a hen; we now make a great difference between dame and dam. --T. L. K. Oliphant. The dam runs lowing up end down, Looking the way her harmless young one went. --Shak. 2. A kind or crowned piece in the game of draughts.
\Dam\, n. [Akin to OLG., D., & Dan. dam, G. & Sw. damm, Icel. dammr, and AS. fordemman to stop up, Goth. Fa['u]rdammjan.] 1. A barrier to prevent the flow of a liquid; esp., a bank of earth, or wall of any kind, as of masonry or wood, built across a water course, to confine and keep back flowing water. 2. (Metal.) A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace. {Dam plate} (Blast Furnace), an iron plate in front of the dam, to strengthen it.
\Dam\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dammed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Damming}.] 1. To obstruct or restrain the flow of, by a dam; to confine by constructing a dam, as a stream of water; -- generally used with in or up. I'll have the current in this place dammed up. --Shak. A weight of earth that dams in the water. --Mortimer. 2. To shut up; to stop up; to close; to restrain. The strait pass was dammed With dead men hurt behind, and cowards. --Shak. {To dam out}, to keep out by means of a dam.

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