Tamp

//tæmp// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    a tool for tamping (e.g., for tamping tobacco into a pipe bowl or a charge into a drill hole etc.) wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock.
  2. 2
    To reduce the intensity of. transitive

    "A single thought tamped her outrage: the chance that Meredith wasn't alone in her suspicions."

  3. 3
    press down tightly wordnet
  4. 4
    To drive in or pack down by frequent gentle strokes

    "Tamp earth so as to make a smooth place."

Synonyms

All synonyms
assaultbearbear uponboostbuckbuffer

Example

More examples

"After filling your pipe with tobacco, tamp it down with your thumb, but don't pack it too tightly."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Probably a back-formation from tampin (misinterpreted as tamping), a variant of tampion.

Etymology 2

Perhaps confusion with damp.

Related phrases

tamp downtamping irontamping rod

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.