dampen
To make something a little wet.
To make something slightly wet or moist.
To make something less strong or less exciting.
To make a feeling, reaction, effect, or activity less strong, intense, or lively.
To make a sound quieter or less echoing.
To reduce the volume, resonance, or echo of a sound.
To make vibrations smaller or stop them faster.
To reduce the amplitude of vibrations or oscillations in a mechanical or physical system.
To become weaker or less exciting.
To become less strong, lively, or enthusiastic.
- Base: dampen
- 3rd Person Singular: dampens
- Present Participle: dampening
- Past: dampened
dampen down
1make less intense
To make something less strong.
- The coach tried to dampen down the hype before the final.
- She dampened down her reaction so she wouldn’t cause a scene.
- Officials moved quickly to dampen down fears about the shortage.
- Try to dampen down your anger.
dampen someone's spirits
1make someone less cheerful
To make someone feel sadder or less excited.
- The loss dampened the team’s spirits, but they kept training.
- Don’t let one bad comment dampen your spirits.
- The gloomy forecast dampened everyone’s spirits at the picnic.
- Bad news can dampen my spirits.
dampen the blow
1reduce bad impact
To make bad news hurt less.
- A severance package helped dampen the blow of losing his job.
- She tried to dampen the blow by sharing the news gently.
- The discount dampened the blow of the price increase.
- He tried to dampen the blow with kind words.
dampen the mood
1make atmosphere less cheerful
To make the mood less happy.
- I don’t want to dampen the mood, but we need to talk about money.
- The argument quickly dampened the mood at dinner.
- A power cut dampened the mood during the party.
- His joke dampened the mood.