— dampish , adj. — dampishly , adv. — dampishness , n. — damply , adv. — dampness , n.
/damp/ , adj., damper, dampest , n. , v.
adj.
1. slightly wet; moist: damp weather; a damp towel.
2. unenthusiastic; dejected; depressed: The welcoming committee gave them a rather damp reception.
n.
3. moisture; humidity; moist air: damp that goes through your warmest clothes.
4. a noxious or stifling vapor or gas, esp. in a mine.
5. depression of spirits; dejection.
6. a restraining or discouraging force or factor.
v.t.
7. to make damp; moisten.
8. to check or retard the energy, action, etc., of; deaden; dampen: A series of failures damped her enthusiasm.
9. to stifle or suffocate; extinguish: to damp a furnace.
10. Acoustics , Music. to check or retard the action of (a vibrating string); dull; deaden.
11. Physics. to cause a decrease in amplitude of (successive oscillations or waves).
12. damp off , to undergo damping-off.
[ 1300-50; ME (in sense of def. 4); cf. MD damp, MHG dampf vapor, smoke ]
Syn. 1. dank, steamy. DAMP, HUMID, MOIST mean slightly wet. DAMP usually implies slight and extraneous wetness, generally undesirable or unpleasant unless the result of intention: a damp cellar; to put a damp cloth on a patient's forehead. HUMID is applied to unpleasant dampness in the air: The air is oppressively humid today. MOIST denotes something that is slightly wet, naturally or properly: moist ground; moist leather. 3. dankness, dampness, fog, vapor. 7. humidify. 8. slow, inhibit, restrain, moderate, abate.
Ant. 1. dry.