dam

DAM, noun 1. A female parent; used of beasts, particularly of quadrupeds. 2. A human mother, in contempt. 3. A crowned man in the game of draughts. DAM, noun A mole, bank or mound of earth, or any wall, or a frame of wood, raised to obstruct a current of water, and to raise it, for the purpose of driving millwheels, or for other purposes. Any work that stops and confines water in a pond or bason, or causes it to rise. DAM, verb transitive 1. To make a dam or to stop a stream of water by a bank of earth, or by any other work; to confine or shut in water. It is common to use, after the verb, in, up, or out; as, to dam in, or to dam up, the water, and to dam out is to prevent water from entering. 2. To confine or restrain from escaping; to shut in.