tamp
/tæmp/ verb
Forms tamps tamping tamped
- verb (blasting) To plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock.
- verb To drive in or pack down by frequent gentle strokes “Tamp earth so as to make a smooth place.”
- verb (transitive) To reduce the intensity of.
Synonyms
Etymology
Probably a back-formation from tampin (misinterpreted as tamping), a variant of tampion.
Perhaps confusion with damp.
Webster’s 1913
- verb In blasting, to plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock, in order to prevent the force of the explosion from being misdirected.
- verb To drive in or down by frequent gentle strokes; as, to tamp earth so as to make a smooth place.
Etymology [Cf. F. tamponner to plug or stop. See Tampion.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tamp”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details