damp off
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damp
(dămp)adj. damp·er, damp·est
1. Slightly wet: a damp sponge.
2. Humid: damp air.
3. Archaic Dejected; depressed.
n.
1.
a. Moisture in the air; humidity: Come in out of the damp.
b. Moisture that lies or has condensed on something: "I saw the damp lying on the bare hedges and spare grass" (Charles Dickens).
2. Foul or poisonous gas that sometimes pollutes the air in coal mines.
3. Archaic
a. Lowness of spirits; depression: "An angry or sorrowful [countenance] throws a sudden damp upon me" (David Hume).
b. A restraint or check; a discouragement: "The issue of arms was so slow as to throw a great damp upon volunteering" (James Franck Bright).
tr.v. damped, damp·ing, damps
Phrasal Verb: 1. To make damp or moist; moisten.
2. To suppress or extinguish (a fire) by reducing or cutting off air.
3. To restrain or check; discourage: news that damped our enthusiasm.
4. Music To slow or stop the vibrations of (the strings of a keyboard instrument) with a damper.
5. Physics To decrease the amplitude of (an oscillating system).
damp off Botany
To be affected by damping off.
[Middle English, poison gas, perhaps from Middle Dutch, vapor.]
damp′ish adj.
damp′ly adv.
damp′ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
damp off
vb
(Plant Pathology) (intr, adverb) (of plants, seedlings, shoots, etc) to be affected by damping off
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014