DAM (dammed, damming)
Dictionary entry overview: What does dam mean?
• DAM (noun)
The noun DAM has 3 senses:
1. a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water or to keep out the sea
2. a metric unit of length equal to ten meters
3. female parent of an animal especially domestic livestock
Familiarity information: DAM used as a noun is uncommon.
• DAM (verb)
The verb DAM has 1 sense:
1. obstruct with, or as if with, a dam
Familiarity information: DAM used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
• DAM (noun)
Meaning:
A barrier constructed to contain the flow of water or to keep out the sea
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
dam; dike; dyke
Hypernyms ("dam" is a kind of...):
barrier (a structure or object that impedes free movement)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dam"):
milldam (dam to make a millpond to provide power for a water mill)
weir (a low dam built across a stream to raise its level or divert its flow)
Instance hyponyms:
Aswan Dam; Aswan High Dam; High Dam (one of the world's largest dams on the Nile River in southern Egypt)
Glen Canyon Dam (a large dam built in 1964 on the Colorado River in Arizona)
Hoover Dam (a large dam built in 1933 on the Colorado River in Nevada)
Meaning:
A metric unit of length equal to ten meters
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Synonyms:
dkm; dekametre; dekameter; decametre; decameter; dam
Hypernyms ("dam" is a kind of...):
metric linear unit (a linear unit of distance in metric terms)
Meronyms (parts of "dam"):
m; meter; metre (the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards))
Holonyms ("dam" is a part of...):
hectometer; hectometre; hm (a metric unit of length equal to 100 meters)
Meaning:
Female parent of an animal especially domestic livestock
Classified under:
Nouns denoting animals
Hypernyms ("dam" is a kind of...):
female (an animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa))
• DAM (verb)
Meaning:
Obstruct with, or as if with, a dam
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
dam; dam up
Context example:
dam the gorges of the Yangtse River
Hypernyms (to "dam" is one way to...):
block; close up; impede; jam; obstruct; obturate; occlude (block passage through)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
