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PlainSpell

dam

UK /ˈdæm/noun, verb, interjection, adjective

dam is spelled D-A-M: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “dam vs damn” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, dam means “A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dam is dams.

How many letters and syllables are in dam?

Letters3: D-A-M
Syllables1
In writing15 times per million words; the 5,407th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is dam?

Dam appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce dam?

  • UK /ˈdæm/
  • UK [ˈdæm] ~ [ˈdam]
  • British /ˈdam/

Dam has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-dam.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_dam.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with dam

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

dam vs damn590 G

Sounds like: damn (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with dam?

10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dam from its last stressed vowel (/æm/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: mad.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of dam

  • dams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • damming participle, present
  • dammed participle, past
  • dam'

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does dam mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding.

    A dam is often an essential source of water to farmers of hilly country.

  2. 2

    The water reservoir resulting from placing such a structure.

    Boats may only be used at places set aside for boating on the dam.

  3. 3

    A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet during dental work, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.

  4. 4

    AustraliaA reservoir.

  5. 5

    A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.

  6. 6

    Female parent, mother, generally regarding breeding of animals.

  7. 7

    A kind of crowned piece in the game of draughts.

  8. 8

    IndiaAn obsolete Indian copper coin, equal to a fortieth of a rupee.

  9. 9

    A former coin of Nepal, 128 of which were worth one mohar.

verb

  1. 1

    To block the flow of water.

interjection

  1. 1

    slangDamn.

adjective

  1. 1

    slangDamn.

noun

as DAM
  1. 1

    Initialism of digital asset management.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Dam in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbarrage (structure placed across a flowing body of water)
GermanTalsperre, Damm, Staudamm (structure placed across a flowing body of water), stauen, abdämmen, absperren (block)
Portuguesebarragem, represa, açude (structure placed across a flowing body of water), represar, barrar (block)
Spanishpresa, represa, azud, azuda, pesquera, bocal (structure placed across a flowing body of water)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does dam come from?

From Middle English dam, from Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after dam