noun / verb

dam

DAM/dæm/

A barrier that holds back water, or to hold back water with one.

The dam holds a high reservoir above the lower river.

An oblique view of a concrete dam spanning a narrow river gorge, visibly holding a broad, high reservoir behind it while a small controlled spillway feeds the much lower downstream river.

Etymology

damMiddle Dutchbarrier holding back water

Middle Dutch dam already named a barrier that obstructs water, preserving the same practical meaning in English. English probably took the word from this noun or its Old Norse counterpart dammr.

In context

Plainly Difficult142:01

dam inflexible and potentially unstable the reservoir that the dam would hold back began being filled in March 1926 with water diverted from the Owens River Aqueduct and a completed dam was opened in May 1926

ReWind: Year 5 Omnibus of Plainly Difficult

More examples

Workers dammed the stream temporarily.
The beavers built a small dam.
Water spilled over the dam after heavy rain.

Forms

dam · dams · dammed · damming

dammed adjective — blocked by a water barrier

Similar words

barrier: Anything obstructing movement.
weir: A low barrier that controls water flow.