I. noun
Etymology: Middle English vampe part of a hose leg or shoe covering the forefoot, vamp, from Anglo-French, alteration of avanpié, from avant- fore- + pié foot, from Latin ped-, pes — more at vanguard , foot
Date: 14th century
1. : the part of a shoe upper or boot upper covering especially the forepart of the foot and sometimes also extending forward over the toe or backward to the back seam of the upper
2.
[ vamp (I)]
: a short introductory musical passage often repeated several times (as in vaudeville) before a solo or between verses
II. ˈvamp verb
Date: 1599
transitive verb
1.
a. : to provide (a shoe) with a new vamp
b. : to piece (something old) with a new part : patch
vamp up old sermons
2. : invent , fabricate
vamp up an excuse
intransitive verb
1. : to play a musical vamp
2. : improvise , extemporize
• vamp·er noun
III. noun
Etymology: short for vampire
Date: circa 1911
: a woman who uses her charm or wiles to seduce and exploit men
• vamp·ish ˈvam-pish adjective
IV. verb
Date: circa 1915
transitive verb
: to practice seductive wiles on
intransitive verb
: to act like a vamp
vamp ing for the camera