2. (Metal.) A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the
front of the hearth of a blast furnace.
{Dam plate} (Blast Furnace), an iron plate in front of the
dam, to strengthen it.
Our sire and dam, now confined to horses, are a
relic of this age (13th century) . . . .Dame is used
of a hen; we now make a great difference between
dame and dam. --T. L. K.
Oliphant.
The dam runs lowing up end down, Looking the way her
harmless young one went. --Shak.
2. A kind or crowned piece in the game of draughts.
I'll have the current in this place dammed up.
--Shak.
A weight of earth that dams in the water.
--Mortimer.
2. To shut up; to stop up; to close; to restrain.
The strait pass was dammed With dead men hurt
behind, and cowards. --Shak.
{To dam out}, to keep out by means of a dam.