■ noun
1》 Music a pad that silences a piano string except when it is removed by means of a pedal or by the key being struck.
2》 a device for reducing vibration or oscillation.
3》 a movable metal plate in a flue or chimney, used to regulate the draught and so control the rate of combustion.
4》 chiefly Austral./NZ an unleavened loaf or cake of flour and water baked in wood ashes. [in the sense 'something that takes the edge off the appetite'.]
Phrases
put a ~ on have a subduing or inhibiting effect on.