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dam

dam

1 9.9
A unit of length equal to ten metres
  • noun
  • /dæm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : decámetro

Examples

  • Take out the dams stand up to oil

  • ♪ No more dams I'll make for fish ♪ ♪ Nor fetch in firing At requiring ♪ ♪ Nor scrape trencher, nor wash dish ♪ ♪ 'Ban, 'Ban, Ca-Ca-Ca-Ca-Ca-Caliban ♪ ♪ Has a new master!

  • The new bridge spans a distance of one dam across the valley.

  • A survey measured the distance from the town to the next dam to be exactly three dams.

  • During our hike, we found that the creek was just two dams wide at its widest point.

Synonyms

decameter
vsdam
  • Specialized
6.8

A unit of length that is ten meters long

has identical meaning but differs only in spelling form
dekameter
vsdam
  • Specialized
7.9

A unit of length equal to ten meters

means the same but uses a different prefix spelling
dekametre
vsdam
  • UK
8.1

A unit of length equal to ten metres

means the same but uses British spelling for the unit

Idioms

7.5

Something bad that already happened and cannot be changed so do not worry about it

Compounds

4 3.7

A large concrete dam on the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona that makes electricity and forms Lake Mead

A large dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona that forms Lake Powell

1 4.6

A large dam on the Nile in southern Egypt that controls floods, supplies water for farming and makes electricity

4.0

A large dam on the Nile in southern Egypt that controls floods, supplies water for farming, and makes electricity

A large dam on the Nile in southern Egypt that controls flooding, stores water and makes electricity

9.9

A language that Tai Dam people speak in northern and southern Vietnam

tinker's dam
  • Archaic
9.9

Something of very little or no value

Surface Forms

dam singular
dams plural

Etymology

The word dam for ten metres is a short form of deca- + 'metre', where deca- means 'ten' (as in decade), so a dam is ten metres long.