Adjacent Words

dampen definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: smother or suppress; "Stifle your curiosity" [syn: stifle, dampen] [ant: excite, stimulate]
2: make moist; "The dew moistened the meadows" [syn: moisten, wash, dampen]
3: deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping [syn: muffle, mute, dull, damp, dampen, tone down]
4: reduce the amplitude (of oscillations or waves)
5: make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible; "muffle the message" [syn: dampen, deaden, damp]
6: check; keep in check (a fire)
7: lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall" [syn: dampen, damp, soften, weaken, break]

Merriam Webster's

verb (dampened; dampening) Date: 1547 transitive verb 1. to check or diminish the activity or vigor of ; deaden <the heat dampened our spirits> 2. to make damp <the shower barely dampened the ground> 3. damp 1c intransitive verb 1. to become damp 2. to become deadened or depressed • dampener noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 v.tr. & intr. make or become damp. 2 tr. make less forceful or vigorous; stifle, choke. Derivatives: dampener n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dampen Damp"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dampened; p. pr. & vb. n. Dampening.] 1. To make damp or moist; to make slightly wet. 2. To depress; to check; to make dull; to lessen. In a way that considerably dampened our enthusiasm. --The Century.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dampen Damp"en, v. i. To become damp; to deaden. --Byron.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dampens, dampening, dampened) 1. To dampen something such as someone's enthusiasm or excitement means to make it less lively or intense. Nothing seems to dampen his perpetual enthusiasm... VERB: V n • To dampen something down means the same as to dampen it. Although unemployment rose last month, this is unlikely to dampen down wage demands... The economy overheated and the Government used to interest rates to dampen it down. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P 2. If you dampen something, you make it slightly wet. She took the time to dampen a washcloth and do her face. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Moisten, damp.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, abridge, absorb the shock, allay, alleviate, arrest, asperge, assuage, attemper, attenuate, baffle, bank the fire, beat down, bedew, bespatter, besprinkle, blunt, bottle up, break the fall, cast down, chasten, check, chill, compress, constrain, control, cool, countercheck, cramp, cripple, curb, curtail, cushion, cut, cut back, cut down, dabble, dam up, damp, dampen the spirits, darken, dash, de-emphasize, deaden, deafen, debilitate, decrease, deduct, deflate, deflect, deject, delay, depreciate, depress, detain, deter, devitalize, dew, diminish, disaffect, discourage, dishearten, disincline, disinterest, dispirit, distract, divert, douche, downgrade, downplay, dull, enervate, enfeeble, eviscerate, exhaust, extenuate, gruel, hinder, hold back, hold in check, hold up, hose, hose down, humect, humectate, humidify, impede, indispose, inhibit, intercept, interfere, intermeddle, interrupt, intervene, irrigate, keep back, keep in check, keep within bounds, knock down, lay, lay low, lenify, lessen, lighten, lower, lower the spirits, meddle, mitigate, moderate, modulate, moisten, muffle, mute, neutralize, obtund, offset, oppose, oppress, paddle, palliate, pare, play down, press down, put off, quench, rattle, reduce, reduce the temperature, repel, repress, resist, restrain, retard, retrench, roll back, sadden, sap, scale down, scotch, set back, shake, shake up, shorten, show consideration, show mercy, show pity, simplify, sink, slacken, slobber, slop, slosh, slow down, smother, snub, sober, sober down, soft-pedal, soften, soften the blow, soften up, sparge, spatter, splash, splatter, sponge, spray, sprinkle, step down, stifle, stop, subdue, suppress, swash, syringe, take from, tame, temper, tone down, tune down, turn aside, turn away, turn from, turn off, unbrace, undermine, underplay, unman, unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring, water, weaken, wean from, weigh heavy upon, weigh upon, wet, wet down