I. dam 1 /dæm/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Middle Dutch ]
1 . a special wall built across a river or stream to stop the water from flowing, especially in order to make a lake or produce electricity
2 . technical the mother of a four-legged animal, especially a horse
II. dam 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle dammed , present participle damming ) [transitive] ( also dam up )
1 . to stop the water in a river or stream from flowing by building a special wall across it
2 . to stop something from being expressed or continuing:
Once she allowed her anger to show, it could not be dammed up again.