I. ˈvamp, -aa(ə)-, -ai- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English vaumpe, vampe, from Old French avantpié, from avant- fore- + pié foot, from Latin ped-, pes — more at vanguard , foot
1. dialect : a short hose coming to the calf formerly sometimes worn over a stocking : sock
2. : 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 — see brogued vamp , circular vamp , three-quarter vamp , whole vamp ; shoe illustration
3.
[ vamp (II) ]
a. : a simple musical accompaniment improvised for the occasion
b. : an introductory section of two or four measures often played several times (as in vaudeville) before a solo or between verses while the soloist is preparing to sing or is indulging in byplay
4.
[ vamp (II) ]
: something vamped or patched up ; especially : a literary composition based on old material
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to provide (a shoe) with a new vamp : revamp
b. : to piece (something old) with a new part : patch — used often with together or up
vamp up old sermons
a vamped play
2. : invent , concoct , fabricate — usually used with up
vamp up an excuse
hastily vamped -up pretext
3. obsolete : to make to present (one) as something else
4. dialect : to walk or tramp over or along
5. : to make a vamp to : improvise (an accompaniment) for a solo
intransitive verb
1. dialect : to go on foot : tramp , plod
2. : to play a vamp or a vamped accompaniment
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
: a volunteer fireman
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: short for vampire
: a woman who uses her charm or wiles to seduce and exploit men : flirt , adventuress
uncle who confronts a vamp to rescue a foolish nephew from her clutches — Theatre Arts
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to practice seductive wiles on : capture or seduce by coquetry
VI. intransitive verb
Etymology: vamp (II)
: improvise : extemporize ; also : to stall for time by improvising or extemporizing