DAMPER Definition & Meaning

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damper

[ dam-per ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a person or thing that damps or depresses:
His glum mood put a damper on their party.
a movable plate for regulating the draft in a stove, furnace, etc.
Music.
1. a device in stringed keyboard instruments to deaden the vibration of the strings.
2. the mute of a brass instrument, as a horn.
Electricity. an attachment to keep the indicator of a measuring instrument from oscillating excessively, as a set of vanes in a fluid or a short-circuited winding in a magnetic field.
Machinery. a shock absorber.
Australian.
1. a round, flat cake made of flour and water, and cooked over a campfire.
2. the dough for such cakes.

damper

/ ˈ��æ��ə /

noun

a person, event, or circumstance that depresses or discourages
put a damper on
to produce a depressing or inhibiting effect on
the bad news put a damper on the party
a movable plate to regulate the draught in a stove or furnace flue
a device to reduce electronic, mechanical, acoustic, or aerodynamic oscillations in a system
music the pad in a piano or harpsichord that deadens the vibration of each string as its key is released
any of various unleavened loaves and scones, typically cooked on an open fire

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of damper¹

First recorded in 1740–50; damp + -er ¹

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Idioms and Phrases

see put a damper on .

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Example Sentences

It has put a painful damper on a job that has brought Ramos years of fulfillment.

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Next week’s rains will still put a damper on fire danger by wetting vegetation and grass, she said.

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Yet Shetty ruefully acknowledges that climate change has put a damper on that last part of his hometown’s legacy.

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Light winds, increasing humidity and a chance of rain are forecast to bring relief to the Los Angeles area, helping put a damper on the Franklin fire.

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Productions have increasingly opted to film in other states due to higher tax incentives, putting a damper on California’s signature film and TV industry.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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