- 1a barrier that is built across a river in order to stop the water from flowing, used especially to make a reservoir (= a lake for storing water) or to produce electricity the Narmada dam in India The dam burst. Wordfinderriverbend, course, current, dam, downstream, estuary, river, source, tributary, waterfall Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivehydroelectric verb + dambuild, construct, breach, … dam + verbburst, break, hold something back, … prepositiondam across, dam on See full entry See related entries: The power industry, Rivers and lakes, Mountains and valleys, Structures
- 2(specialist) the mother of some animals, especially horses compare sire
- 3= dental dam Word Originnoun sense 1 Middle English: from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch; related to Dutch dam and German Damm, also to Old English fordemman ‘close up’. noun sense 2 late Middle English (denoting a human mother): alteration of dame.Extra examples The dam burst and the valley was flooded. The dam has been breached and there is a danger of flooding. The dam holds back the water. a large hydroelectric dam on the Colorado River
dam
nounBrE BrE//dæm//; NAmE NAmE//dæm//
The power industry, Rivers and lakes, Mountains and valleys, StructuresCheck pronunciation: dam
