damp

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Slightly wet, in an unpleasant or unwanted way.

   Her clothes were still damp from the rain.

2. 2
   noun

   Moisture or wetness, especially in the air or on a surface.

   There was a smell of damp in the old basement.

3. 3
   verb

   To reduce or weaken a feeling, sound, or activity.

   The bad news damped everyone's enthusiasm for the party.

From Middle English dampen (“to stifle; suffocate”). Akin to Low German damp, Dutch damp, and German Dampf (“vapor, steam, fog”), Icelandic dampi, Swedish damm (“dust”), and to German dampf imperative of dimpfen (“to smoke”). Also Middle English dampen (“to extinguish, choke, suffocate”). Ultimately all descend from Proto-Germanic *dampaz.

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