Free TranslationFree Translation
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Damper   /dˈæmpər/   Listen
Damper

noun
1.
A movable iron plate that regulates the draft in a stove or chimney or furnace.
2.
A device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations.  Synonym: muffler.
3.
A depressing restraint.



Related searches:



WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Damper" Quotes from Famous Books



... impudence, when the elephant, who was rocking backwards and forwards, suddenly threw out his trunk and seized our friend by the coat tails; the cloth gave way, and the whole back of the coat was torn out, leaving nothing but the collar, sleeves, and front. As may be supposed, this was a damper upon his amatory proceedings; indeed we never saw a man look so small, as he shuffled away amidst the titters of the company, ...
— The International Monthly Magazine, Volume 5, No. 1, January, 1852 • Various

... the postal cards that have not been used under the distributing table, and the coal down in the cellar. If the stove draws too hard, close the damper in the pipe and shut the ...
— Remarks • Bill Nye

... Bas-e, who still boasted of the swords that they possessed as spoils from that occasion. The Bas-e knew this spot as the favorite resting-place of the Hamran hunting-parties, and they might be not far distant NOW, as we were in the heart of their country. This intelligence was a regular damper to the spirits of some of the party. Mahomet quietly retired and sat down by Barrak, the ex-slave woman, having expressed a resolution to keep awake every hour that he should be compelled to remain in that horrible country. The lions roared ...
— In the Heart of Africa • Samuel White Baker

... mass of rusty-brown material like a thick coating of spider's web of a red tint. This parasite attacks the Crocus (especially C. sativus), the Narcissus, Asparagus, Potato, and other plants. Immersed in the softer and damper portions of the red substance of the corm may frequently be found great numbers of large compound spores, as illustrated at A (enlarged two hundred and fifty diameters). These bodies belong to the fungus named Urocystis gladioli; but ...
— The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots, 16th Edition • Sutton and Sons

... pronouncing Jessie "a dear," and she was at once made to feel at home with the V, which hospitably extended its arms to take her in. But with Katharine it was a different matter. Critical of others, and constantly studying the effect of all that she herself said or did, she was rather a damper on the good times of the girls. Fortunately, she usually scorned them as children, and spent much of her time with her mates in the fashionable boarding-school at which she and her sister were day pupils. And yet, she was not to blame for this ...
— Half a Dozen Girls • Anna Chapin Ray

... had just come from the front. Just as we were settling down to our conversational Marathon, up walked ——, the —— Charge and bade himself to dine with us. He is strongly pro-German in his sympathies, and, of course, that put a complete damper on conversation. We talked about everything on earth save the one thing we were interested in, and sat tight in the hope that he would move on. Not only did he stay, but after a time the —— First Secretary came and joined ...
— A Journal From Our Legation in Belgium • Hugh Gibson

... tut! To dinner, I suppose," said the doctor dismally. "Potatoes and damper! Oh, boys, I did think you would have had a ...
— The Peril Finders • George Manville Fenn

... kettle, filled with water from the spring, was slung from three green sticks over the fire, and a pannikin of weak tea, together with a biscuit, served out to each of the party, save Grimes, who declared himself unable to eat. Breakfast over, Bates made a damper, which was cooked in the ashes, and then another council was held ...
— For the Term of His Natural Life • Marcus Clarke

... such a damper upon my enthusiasm that I was on the point of taking again to the road, when it came to me powerfully: Why not try ...
— The Friendly Road - New Adventures in Contentment • (AKA David Grayson) Ray Stannard Baker

... as much of the history of Mukoki's night on the trail as the boys could secure, but during their breakfast Wabi shot another glance at Rod, and as Mukoki left the table for a moment to close the damper in the stove he ...
— The Wolf Hunters - A Tale of Adventure in the Wilderness • James Oliver Curwood

... all sail on, in the hope of forcing over; but failing in this, we hove back into the channel. This was something of a damper to us, and the captain looked not a little mortified and vexed. "This is the same place where the Rosa got ashore, sir," observed our red-headed second mate, most mal-apropos. A malediction on the Rosa, and him too, was all the answer he got, and he slunk off to leeward. ...
— Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 11 • Various

... we children used to reckon the thing over!—she was cradled in a throne. A miserable race, to be sure, they were,—the Stuarts; and the most devout genealogist might deem it dubious honor to own them for great-grandfathers by innumerable degrees removed. So she used to tell us, over and over, as a damper on our childish vanity, looking such a very queen as she spoke, in every play of feature, and every motion of her hand, that it was the old story of preachers who did not practise. The very baby was proud of her. The beauty of a face, ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 106, August, 1866 • Various

... laid at last, and a piece of smoking salt beef and a great round damper brought in from outside ...
— The Moving Finger • Mary Gaunt

... episode put a damper on the outing. But the boys did their best to make the girls forget it, and after a while all were hunting as diligently as before for ferns. They found a varied collection, and took delight in filling the shoeboxes with the ...
— The Rover Boys in the Land of Luck - Stirring Adventures in the Oil Fields • Edward Stratemeyer

... not come. The fog seemed to grow thicker and damper. At length weariness overcame the whole party. Then Inza was left in full possession of the cuddy, while Hodge and Frank crept into a narrow sleeping-place forward which Jabez Slocum pointed out to them. As for the fishermen themselves, they seemed ...
— Frank Merriwell's Reward • Burt L. Standish

... Patrick's, dreary enough in itself seems to grow damper and chillier as one's footsteps disturb the silence between the grave of its famous Dean and that of Stella, in death as in life near yet divided from him, as if to make their memories more inseparable ...
— The Function Of The Poet And Other Essays • James Russell Lowell

... breakfast newspaper reading by asserting that she was a person of no character, now insisted upon weeping noisily every time Mr. McCain granted her an interview. Also, and this was equally unexpected, since one rather thought he would go on living forever, like one of the damper sort of fungi, Mr. Denby came home from the club one rainy spring night with a slight cold and died, three days later, ...
— O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1920 • Various

... of reply rather throws a damper over efforts to be genial. Mrs. Boodels wishes it to be repeated to her through the trumpet. Damper through the ...
— Happy-Thought Hall • F. C. Burnand

... the fact that many of the clergy to-day need more gymnastics, more fresh air, more nutritious food. Prayer cannot do the work of beefsteak. You cannot keep a hot fire in the furnace with poor fuel and the damper turned. ...
— Around The Tea-Table • T. De Witt Talmage

... upon a white wall. The boat shot under the dark and clammy arch of the bridge, where the echo increased the splashing of the steamer waves and the thump of the machinery to a roar. The noise subsided suddenly, as when a damper is laid over a resounding instrument; the steamer had passed the bridge, and floated out on to the broad waters of the Aussen Alster, which widened apparently into a great bay, the mist having wiped ...
— The Malady of the Century • Max Nordau

... damper on de yuthers, but 'fo' Mr. Rooster git outer sight en year'n dey went ter wuk on de pile w'at wuz 'pariently co'n-bread, en, lo en beholes, un'need dem pone er bread wuz a whole passel er meat en ...
— Nights With Uncle Remus - Myths and Legends of the Old Plantation • Joel Chandler Harris

... cabin they closed the damper, fastened the window-hooks, and locked the door. But no one had thought of the broken window-pane which was only stuffed with a rag. After the showers of a couple of summers, the rag had moulded and shrunk, and, finally, a crow had succeeded ...
— The Wonderful Adventures of Nils • Selma Lagerlof

... poor "Jake," of New York, was a damper to my enthusiasm. My little store of money would soon be exhausted, and since it would be unsafe for me to go on the wharves for work, and I had no introductions elsewhere, the prospect for me ...
— The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue • Various

... going, Ward (of the Intelligence) crossed over with a nasty little damper. The Turks keep just one lap ahead of us. Two new Divisions have arrived and have been launched straightway at our trenches. At the moment we get promises that troops asked for in the middle of May will arrive by the middle of July ...
— Gallipoli Diary, Volume I • Ian Hamilton

... indicates a cast-iron damper built in the throat. This is not necessary, for it contributes nothing to the efficiency of the fire itself. Its one great advantage is that by furnishing the mason with an unalterable form, it forces him to ...
— Making a Fireplace • Henry H. Saylor

... lady answered. "Dear, dear, no; each man does everything for himself in his own hut; they don't even get bread, only rations of flour to make damper for themselves. Then we give them a fixed, quantity of meat, tea, sugar, tobacco, candles, soap, and one or ...
— Seven Little Australians • Ethel Sybil Turner

... the captain of the little steamer had felt that he was in possession of any unusual liberty. It might have been otherwise with him and his companions if the threatening presence of the Fatime had not been a serious damper upon them. As it was, the voyage to Cyprus had resulted in a ...
— Asiatic Breezes - Students on The Wing • Oliver Optic

... Carley how to open the little stove and put the short billets of wood inside and work the damper; and cautioning her to keep an eye on it so that it would not get too hot, she ...
— The Call of the Canyon • Zane Grey

... that young Maitland hesitated about proceeding, his grumpy tone acting as a sort of damper to his contemplated eloquence. ...
— Teddy - The Story of a Little Pickle • J. C. Hutcheson

... these entozoa, the Filaria medinensis, or Guinea-worm, which burrows in the cellular tissue under the skin, is well known in the north of the island, but rarely found in the damper districts of the south and west. In Ceylon, as elsewhere, the natives attribute its occurrence to drinking the waters of particular wells; but this belief is inconsistent with the fact that its lodgment ...
— Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon • J. Emerson Tennent

... Lady Spencer's farms, seven miles farther down the same river, we were glad to pocket a large piece of damper for our evening meal, which we made at our old bivouac near the Great Plain, where we found the native under the break-wind, which he had covered with another bough or two. Next evening we got into Albany, and on the morning ...
— Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2 • John Lort Stokes

... a bitter sort of smile, and his eyes drooped furtively as he struck the damper of the stove heavily with his foot; ...
— Northern Lights • Gilbert Parker

... progress of this singular speech, Charles Tracy's countenance had gradually changed from the surprised to the amused; and when I had concluded he laughed—yes, he actually laughed! What a damper ...
— A Grandmother's Recollections • Ella Rodman

... DAMPER. A luncheon, or snap before dinner: so called from its damping, or allaying, the appetite; eating and drinking, being, as the proverb wisely observes, apt ...
— 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue • Captain Grose et al.

... War was over, that a big fire would not be the worst thing that could happen to New York; and, if it could have burned sense into men's minds as it burned up the evidence of their lack of it, they would have been right. But forty per cent—the rent some of the barracks brought—is a powerful damper on sense and conscience, even with the cholera at the door. However, the fear of it gave us the Citizens' Council of Hygiene, and New York heard the ...
— The Battle with the Slum • Jacob A. Riis

... yarn that's quickly told," remarked Bob. The half-breed by this time had returned from the tent with generous supplies of cold deer, damper, and wild berries, after serving which he placed a pan on the fire in preparation for coffee. "It's a yarn that won't take long in the telling, though, if you'll excuse me, ...
— The Fiery Totem - A Tale of Adventure in the Canadian North-West • Argyll Saxby

... informal. At the former were present the three sovereigns with their ministers—Talleyrand for France, Kurakin and Labanoff for Russia, Kalkreuth and Goltz for Prussia; at the latter were sometimes all three of the monarchs, frequently only the two principals, for they found Frederick William a damper on their hilarity. The generals, the staff, and the men of the two great armies which had fought so bravely at Friedland harmonized in mutual respect; but the unwarlike King and his suite, both military and civil, ...
— The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte - Vol. III. (of IV.) • William Milligan Sloane

... then, though fast the horses run, Few gain by "clone," and "done," and "done," For what a damper to the fun! Those "only laugh ...
— The English Spy • Bernard Blackmantle

... art present in my sight, Though far removed from us, for thou alone Hast touched the inmost fibres of the breast, Since Tasso's tears made damper the damp floor Whereon one only light came through ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 103, May, 1866 • Various

... to baking bread, or cooking the humblest meal, they were equally at a loss. They seem to have had no idea of the humblest grate, or even of a flat and easily-cleaned stone for a hearth; and so, having kneaded their 'damper,' it is never said how they thrust it in the ashes till it was partially heated, and comparatively fit to be eaten. They have mutton, and mutton only; but how cooked is equally unknown. It is not known that they have any apparatus whatever, ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 424, New Series, February 14, 1852 • Various

... the carryall put a damper on matters, and the girls felt it. They talked with the Rovers and Songbird a few minutes longer and then turned in one direction while the ...
— The Rover Boys at College • Edward Stratemeyer

... Haugwitz seemed deeply impressed, and Duroc said to us, after we had left the room, "The count will write tonight to Berlin, to tell his government of the destruction of Jellachich's force, which will put a damper on the war party, and give the king new reasons for holding off. Which is what ...
— The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot, Translated by - Oliver C. Colt • Baron de Marbot

... that the debut party was given to little Judith Buck in no way served to throw a damper on the festivities. On the contrary, the gaiety of the guests increased. Supper was a decided success and the stylish waiters from Louisville saw to it that everyone was served bountifully. Old Billy ...
— The Comings of Cousin Ann • Emma Speed Sampson

... of satisfaction and pleasant anticipation when her father told her that he was to be of their party. His wit and gallantry would make up for the necessity of having her Aunt Maria along. Aunt Maria was always a damper to anything she came near. She was the personification of propriety. She had tried to make Hazel think she must remain in the car and rest that day instead of going off on a wild goose chase after a mine. No lady did such things, she told ...
— The Man of the Desert • Grace Livingston Hill

... is impatient, and proposes that we should appropriate the dairywoman's cloak, and have a scamper on the moors, under its shelter. A pleasant suggestion—and then, if the surly old man come in, he may believe his prophecy verified—we cannot be damper, or colder, in the rain ...
— Wuthering Heights • Emily Bronte

... the blacks were very bad. Carruthers would boil his billy at water-holes in the afternoon, and go out to the centre of the plains to camp, with no bells on the horses. As for myself, I was sick and weak. Not being able to eat damper or meat, I was almost starved, lost all vitality, and cared little whether I survived the trip or not. We had to cross the "Plains of Promise." These consisted of an uninterrupted run of about 30 miles of devil-devil ...
— Reminiscences of Queensland - 1862-1869 • William Henry Corfield

... round—some of the girls being exceedingly pretty. To feed so large a host, would have required all my horses as well as my stock of rations, so I singled out Tommy, his two brothers, and the other original little two, at the same time, giving Tommy's father about half a damper I had already cooked, and told him that Tommy was my boy. He shook his head slowly, and would not accept the damper, walking somewhat sorrowfully away. However, I sent it to him by Tommy, and told him to tell his father he was going with me and the horses. The damper was taken that time. ...
— Australia Twice Traversed, The Romance of Exploration • Ernest Giles

... Pennsylvania tariff Democrats declined to attend, and got up a dinner of their own. General Jackson attended the dinner, but he went late and retired early, leaving a volunteer toast, which he had carefully prepared at the White House, and which fell like a damper upon those at the dinner, while it electrified the North, "The Federal Union—it must and shall be maintained!" This toast, which could not be misunderstood, showed that General Jackson would not permit himself to be placed in the attitude of a patron of doctrines which could lead ...
— Perley's Reminiscences, Vol. 1-2 - of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis • Benjamin Perley Poore

... eight feet in width at the base, and only about one foot wide at the top, so it is necessary for him "who standeth" to "take heed lest he fall"; otherwise his enthusiasm over the beauties of the prospect may receive a damper from a sudden plunge into ...
— Over the Border: Acadia • Eliza Chase

... suggested by the word. This is not all. Proceeding upon the superadded meaning, we speak of damping a man's ardor, a metaphor where the cooling is the only circumstance concerned; we go on still further to designate the iron slide that shuts off the draft of a stove, 'the damper,' the primary meaning being now entirely dropped. 'Dry,' in like manner, through signifying the absence of moisture, water, or liquidity, is applied to sulphuric acid containing water, although not thereby ceasing to be a moist, wet, or ...
— A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive • John Stuart Mill

... presented by the hut were few. It did protect them from the little chill breeze that stirred and it put a roof over their heads, although, as Clint said, if it rained before morning they'd probably find the roof of little account. On the other hand, it was damper than the outdoors and the mustiness was far from fragrant. They decided, however, to take up their quarters there until morning. Looking for the road was evidently quite useless, and, anyway, they were much ...
— Left Tackle Thayer • Ralph Henry Barbour

... reached out for the damper of the stove ostensibly to shake down the ashes, but really to pull himself up out of the soundless spaces ...
— The Lovely Lady • Mary Austin

... pear, apple &c, apple slump; artichoke; ashcake^, griddlecake, pancake, flapjack; atole^, avocado, banana, beche de mer [Fr.], barbecue, beefsteak; beet root; blackberry, blancmange, bloater, bouilli^, bouillon, breadfruit, chop suey [U.S.]; chowder, chupatty^, clam, compote, damper, fish, frumenty^, grapes, hasty pudding, ice cream, lettuce, mango, mangosteen, mince pie, oatmeal, oyster, pineapple, porridge, porterhouse steak, salmis^, sauerkraut, sea slug, sturgeon ("Albany beef"), succotash [U.S.], supawn [U.S.], trepang^, vanilla, waffle, ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget

... Severe volcanic activity, which began in July 1995, has put a damper on this small, open economy. A catastrophic eruption in June 1997 closed the airports and seaports, causing further economic and social dislocation. Two-thirds of the 12,000 inhabitants fled the island. Some began to return in 1998, but lack of housing limited the number. The agriculture sector continued ...
— The 2007 CIA World Factbook • United States

... of Major Elliott and his party was the only damper upon our pleasure, and the only drawback to the very successful expedition. There was no definite information as to the detachment, —and Custer was able to report nothing more than that he had not seen Elliott since just before the fight began. His theory was, however, that Elliott ...
— The Memoirs of General Philip H. Sheridan, Vol. II., Part 6 • P. H. Sheridan

... satisfactory, and Ned admitted as much one morning to Tom, as he sat on a three-legged stool in his studio—i.e. a dilapidated log-hut—preparing for a sitter, while the latter was busily engaged in concluding his morning repast of damper, pork, ...
— The Golden Dream - Adventures in the Far West • R.M. Ballantyne

... There!" appearing fully dressed from behind the curtains. "I'm ready if you are. Did I talk your head off? I ask your pardon; but that 'Heart of a Sailor' touched mine, I guess. I know I was afraid I'd laugh until it stopped beatin'. And all around the people were cryin'. It was enough sight damper amongst the seats than in those ...
— Cap'n Warren's Wards • Joseph C. Lincoln

... again nearly three hundred steps westward amid those magnificent tombs, you can, for instance, compare in the most leisurely way the dry dustiness which ultimately pervades the persons of kings and bishops with the damper dustiness that is usually the final shape of commoners, curates, and others who take their last rest out of doors. Then, if you are in love, you can, by sauntering in the chapels and behind the episcopal ...
— A Group of Noble Dames • Thomas Hardy

... that I wished to see my mother, but I might as well have asked for a captain's commission. The time was too precious, and we were of too much use to be spared to see our mammas, so the second lieutenant said, and that was a sufficient damper. He had his wife in snug lodgings at Dock; he neither felt for us nor our mammas, so one of the ...
— A Sailor of King George • Frederick Hoffman

... polished to skeletons by this time if I had listened to en, and I assure you we could have bought a chainey-faced beauty wi' the good money we've flung away these last ten years upon this old green-faced mortal. And, Martin, you must be wet. My son is gone up to change. John is damper than I should like to be, but 'a calls it nothing. Some of Mrs. Swancourt's servants have been here—they ran in out of the rain when going for a walk—and I assure you the state ...
— A Pair of Blue Eyes • Thomas Hardy

... like a mere steady hum to me; then I should become unconscious, and be carried home, with you still whispering in my ear. But do not talk, MAGNOLIA; for I must do the walking-match. The prejudice here against my Southern birth makes me a damper upon the festivities of others at this general season of forgiveness to all mankind, and I can't stand the sight of that DROOD and Miss POTTS together. I'd better stay away until ...
— Punchinello Vol. 1, No. 21, August 20, 1870 • Various

... danger of burning the arms in using it. The fire, broiler door, clinker door, and ash-pan door are all in front. All holes are hot, and the oven is heated on six sides, making it not only an even baker, but a sure baker on the bottom. One damper does the whole regulating business. A guard rail to keep the clothes from contact with the heated surface and convenient towel driers are also provided. There is no nickel finish, but solid bronze instead. These are features which should recommend it to architects; besides which ...
— The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Vol. 1, No. 10, October 1895. - French Farmhouses. • Various

... a damper on the Souths, who knew, to a boy, that they couldn't hope to raise money enough to buy ...
— The Grammar School Boys of Gridley - or, Dick & Co. Start Things Moving • H. Irving Hancock

... float. This float is attached to a rod, which in its turn is attached to a lever set on the top of a large upright pipe. The upper part of the pipe is widened out into a small cistern, through a short pipe in the middle of which a chain passes to the damper; but any water emptied into this small cistern cannot pass into the pipe, except through a small valve fixed to the lever to which the rod is attached. The water for replenishing the boiler is pumped into the small cistern on the top of the pipe; and it follows from these arrangements ...
— A Catechism of the Steam Engine • John Bourne

... of the Loreley in his heart, was to meet with a damper administered to him by his affectionate parent, who had improved immensely in the sea air, and was ...
— Somehow Good • William de Morgan

... mother. "A female of fifteen run with a boy, indeed! The very idea is indelicate. Now, as soon as thou hast put on thy slippers and goloe-shoes, go to thy father, who has been told of thy misbehaviour, and who will reprove thee for it." And with this last damper on the "lightness of young people," as Mrs. Meredith phrased it, she once more left the room. It is a regrettable fact that Miss Janice, who had looked the picture of submission as her mother spoke, ...
— Janice Meredith • Paul Leicester Ford

... damper on more celebrating, and Tom was requested to store away what remained of the fireworks. Little did he dream of how useful those fireworks were ...
— The Rover Boys on Treasure Isle - The Strange Cruise of the Steam Yacht • Edward Stratemeyer

... rank as weed, An' puts on such a damper, Wal th' foaks declare i' great despair, It's up wi' th' ...
— Th' History o' Haworth Railway - fra' th' beginnin' to th' end, wi' an ackaant o' th' oppnin' serrimony • Bill o'th' Hoylus End

... in western Oregon and Washington, logging debris is too great to make piling practicable. But except for the damper localities close to the Pacific, the danger from these immense accumulations is all the more excessive and, as we have seen elsewhere, their removal is often desirable in order to further reforestation ...
— Practical Forestry in the Pacific Northwest • Edward Tyson Allen

... the sunshine and the green, Enters the solid darkness of a cave, Nor knows what precipice or pit unseen May yawn before him with its sudden grave, And, with hushed breath, doth often forward lean, Deeming he hears the plashing of a wave Dimly below, or feels a damper air From out some dreary chasm, he knows not where; So from the sunshine and the green of Love, We enter on ...
— The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, February 1844 - Volume 23, Number 2 • Various

... day treated us to some hardships that I had missed on the first overland journey. Ice formed in the camp half an inch thick, and the high wind joined forces with the damper of our stove, which had got out of order, to fill the tent with smoke and make ...
— Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail • Ezra Meeker

... the ground began to grow damp. The farther he went, the damper it grew. Presently it became fairly wet, and there was a great deal of soft, cool, wet moss. How good it did feel to Grandfather ...
— The Adventures of Grandfather Frog • Thornton W. Burgess

... stepped loftily along toward Farmington, where I determined to attend the Academy. The thought, however, that though I was twenty-three years old, I had yet to learn what most boys of eight years knew, was rather a damper on my spirits. The school was conducted by Mr. J. Comstock, who was a pleasant young man and an excellent teacher. He showed me every kindness and consideration my position and ignorance demanded; and I attended ...
— Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman • Austin Steward

... waning towards evening; there was still a faint mist, but it had cleared a little except in the damper tracts of subjacent country and along the river-courses. He thought again of Christminster, and wished, since he had come two or three miles from his aunt's house on purpose, that he could have seen for once this attractive city of which he had been told. But even if he waited here it was hardly ...
— Jude the Obscure • Thomas Hardy

... together as pleasant as possible, Lloyd immediately put Bernice out of her mind as far as she was able. But she could not rid herself entirely of the recollection that something disagreeable had happened. The impression bore down on her like a heavy cloud, and was a damper on her high spirits. Outwardly she was as gay as ever, and when the walk was over, led the party on a foraging ...
— The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor • Annie Fellows Johnston

... little while later that Mrs. Gilligan put another damper on their fun by announcing that some one would have to go to town for more provisions. The boy had failed to come that morning, and their supply of canned goods ...
— Billie Bradley and Her Inheritance - The Queer Homestead at Cherry Corners • Janet D. Wheeler

... his fear of Dakota, which must be taken into account when he meditated any action prompted by his jealousy, and his fear of Dakota was a check on his desires, a damper which must control the heat of his emotions. He might hate Dakota, but his fear of him would prevent his taking any action which might expose his own life to risk. On the other hand, jealousy urged him to accept any risk; it kept telling ...
— The Trail to Yesterday • Charles Alden Seltzer

... not throw a damper on that occasion which for whirl and bustle and gayety and excitement is not equalled by any other day in a person's life. The city wedding in New York is marked first by the arrival of the caterer, who comes to spread the wedding breakfast; and later on by the florist, who appears ...
— Manners and Social Usages • Mrs. John M. E. W. Sherwood

... sleep comfortably. The dogs were fastened up at different points round the fold, that should a dingo, or native dog, a sort of fox, come near, their barking might at once arouse him. Joseph was just sitting down to his supper of a dish of stewed mutton and damper, that is wheaten unleavened bread, baked under the ashes, washed down by a few cups of good tea, when Tony Peach rode up. A fresh damper and a bowl of tea was placed before him. He talked on general matters for some time, and he then spoke of what he called the rights of servants. After a little ...
— Taking Tales - Instructive and Entertaining Reading • W.H.G. Kingston

... he added by way of soliloquy, as he stood looking after him. 'Although you ARE a damper to a honourable ambition. You little think it, but you was the first to dash my hopes. Pecksniff would have built me up for life, but your sweet temper pulled ...
— Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit • Charles Dickens

... she laughed, when the little boy commented upon her gaiety. Lydia found the usual damper ...
— Martie the Unconquered • Kathleen Norris

... had attended the publication of the first number of the Dominican had been such as to throw a damper over the future success of that valuable paper. It was most uncomfortably connected in the minds of the Fifth with the cowardice of Oliver Greenfield, and with the stigma which his conduct had cast upon the whole Form, and they one and all experienced a great ...
— The Fifth Form at Saint Dominic's - A School Story • Talbot Baines Reed

... through such a mass of snow. If the snow be loose and porous throughout, the water will pass through its whole thickness, accumulating at the bottom, so that the lower portion of the mass will be damper, more completely soaked with water, than the upper part; if, on the contrary, in consequence of the process previously described, alternate melting and freezing combined with pressure, the mass has assumed the character of icy snow, it does not admit moisture so readily, ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 12, No. 74, December, 1863 • Various

... the Ghauts, is probably often about 200 inches,[4] while in the interior of the province the rainfall is probably about thirty inches on the average. The temperature of the western tract too is naturally much damper and cooler than that of the rest of the tableland, and at my house within six miles of the crests of the Ghauts at an elevation of about 3,200 feet, the shade temperature at the hottest time of the year and of the day rarely exceeds eighty-five, and such a thing as ...
— Gold, Sport, And Coffee Planting In Mysore • Robert H. Elliot

... still clicking busily as she sat beside the great stove, whose warmth was a necessity in the chill of the spring evenings. Jessie came slowly over and stood gazing down at the fierce glow radiating beneath the iron door, where the damper had ...
— The Triumph of John Kars - A Story of the Yukon • Ridgwell Cullum

... spelling a time got some of them as guides to the camp on Pando, where they were rewarded by presents of a tomahawk and blanket, etc. Started Bell out to the cart with the bullocks and blackfellows, Sambo and Jack, leading a packhorse with supplies of damper ...
— McKinlay's Journal of Exploration in the Interior of Australia • John McKinlay

... the Oakdale hotel had put something of a damper on the crowd, and all the talk was of how Jason Sparr had acted and who had been mean enough to play such ...
— Dave Porter and the Runaways - Last Days at Oak Hall • Edward Stratemeyer

... are damper and colder; The maples and sumacs are red, The wild Equinoctial is coming, The flowers in the garden are dead. The steamers are all overflowing, The railroads are all loaded down, And the beauties we've sighed for all Summer ...
— Point Lace and Diamonds • George A. Baker, Jr.

... day was a work-day, and the thought of it put a damper on the men's spirits. Most of them, moreover, had spent their money. Some were already rolling dismally home, to sleep in preparation for the morrow. Mrs. Morel, listening to their mournful singing, went indoors. ...
— Sons and Lovers • David Herbert Lawrence

... to us was, however, soon exhausted, and poor M'Leay preferred pure water to the bitter draught that remained. I have been some times unable to refrain from smiling, as I watched the distorted countenances of my humble companions while drinking their tea and eating their damper. ...
— Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, Complete • Charles Sturt

... plate, or a tray in her hand, go down to the kitchen and shortly return, generally (oh, romantic reader, forgive me for telling the plain truth!) bearing a pot of porter. Her appearance always acted as a damper to the curiosity raised by her oral oddities: hard-featured and staid, she had no point to which interest could attach. I made some attempts to draw her into conversation, but she seemed a person of few words: a monosyllabic reply usually cut short ...
— Jane Eyre - an Autobiography • Charlotte Bronte

... her not being well shook us up bad. Everybody was friends with her, same as she was friends with everybody—even when she got into one of her tantrums, and took to jawing you, you couldn't help liking her—and knowing she wasn't feeling like she ought to feel put a big lot more of a damper on all hands. So we just kept on taking drinks and getting miserabler with 'em—and feeling all the time surer something was coming bouncing out at us from round the corner, and wondering what kind of a stir-up we was ...
— Santa Fe's Partner - Being Some Memorials of Events in a New-Mexican Track-end Town • Thomas A. Janvier

... himself, "Well, well, it IS wrong; I have no right to call on my poor wife to laugh, my daughters to affect to be amused, by that old, old jest of mine. And they would have gone on laughing, and they would have pretended to be amused, to their dying day, if this man had not flung his damper over our hilarity." . . . I lay down the pen, and think, "Are there any old stories which I still tell myself in the bosom of my family? Have I any 'Grouse in my gun-room?'" If there are such, it is because my memory fails; not because I want applause, and wantonly repeat ...
— Roundabout Papers • William Makepeace Thackeray

... to check the Bonanza .375 both visually and perceptively and then loaded it full. I consulted a road map to chart a course. Then I took off with the coal wide open and the damper rods all the way out and made the wheels roll ...
— Highways in Hiding • George Oliver Smith

... township, and peace came to his mind as he sat at the long, bare table which occupied the centre of the living-room of the hotel, munching the beef and damper the red-cheeked girl brought to him. Vaguely the idea came to him that the presence of such a girl at his homestead would be a decided improvement to the loneliness he had for the first time experienced on his return from his former visit to the township, and with characteristic brevity he made ...
— Colonial Born - A tale of the Queensland bush • G. Firth Scott

... presence. Delicate ferns and ice-plants sprang from its chinks and crannies. The long fronds of the sparaxis bowed at her small, brown-shod feet, some bearing seed-pods, others rows of pink bells, or yellow—a fairy chime. In the damper hollows iris bloomed, and the gold and scarlet sword-flowers stood in martial ranks, and gaily-plumaged finches were sidling on overhanging boughs, or dipping and drinking in the shallows. The wattled starlings whistled to each other, or fought as starlings will. A grey ...
— The Dop Doctor • Clotilde Inez Mary Graves

... The widow sat at the head of the table, and her son, a young man of two-and-twenty, next to her. There were three younger children, two girls and a boy, all looking bright and healthy. We had a hearty welcome, and poured out news while they poured out tea, which with damper (an Australian cake baked on the hearth), and mutton made an excellent meal. When tea was over we had a good long talk, and found that the young farmer was an excellent son, and in a fair way to establish the whole family in prosperity. Well, the time came for parting, ...
— Nearly Lost but Dearly Won • Theodore P. Wilson

... laugh a finale to it; you see them dwelling on the relish, chewing the cud, by way of mental note for their friends to-morrow, as if they were kettles come here merely for boiling purposes, to make tea elsewhere, and putting a damper on the fire that does the business for them. They laugh, but they laugh extinguishingly, and not a bit to spread a ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... grand bed, for, like all things in the cottage, it seemed also to be getting colder and damper. But as she was very young, although she still continued weeping, it ended by her growing ...
— An Iceland Fisherman • Pierre Loti

... somewhat; thence they ascend through the openings of the brick grating, and through the mass of peat to the top of the chamber. On their way they become charged with vapor, and falling, pass off through the chimney, as is indicated by the arrows. The draught is regulated by the damper on the top of the chimney. To manage the fire, so that on the one hand the chimney is sufficiently heated to create a draught, and on the other waste of fuel, or even ignition of the peat itself is prevented, ...
— Peat and its Uses as Fertilizer and Fuel • Samuel William Johnson

... milder but damper atmosphere greeted me. By noon I had rowed twenty-two miles, and was off the mouth of Big Bone Lick Creek, in Kentucky. Two miles from the mouth of this creek are some springs, the waters of which are charged with sulphur and salt. The most interesting ...
— Four Months in a Sneak-Box • Nathaniel H. Bishop

... and Leo confidently expected this crowning distinction of his school life, though no one could know who were to be the happy recipients of the medals until their names were called on the great day. There was only one damper upon his enthusiasm as the eventful occasion dawned upon him. The steamer bearing Andre and Maggie had been expected the day before, but she had not arrived; and Leo felt that half his pleasure would be lost because they were not present ...
— Make or Break - or, The Rich Man's Daughter • Oliver Optic

... in him, was as great a concession to mirth and gaiety as turning hand-springs would be in another. He began to seek the company of the young men in the town—even of the boys. They accepted him as a decided damper, for his attempts at sportiveness were so forced that they might as well have essayed their games in a cathedral. Neither he nor any other could estimate what progress he ...
— Heart of the West • O. Henry

... Damper. (a) A copper frame on which the wire in a galvanometer is sometimes coiled, which acts to damp ...
— The Standard Electrical Dictionary - A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice - of Electrical Engineering • T. O'Conor Slone

... from the observation of one morning, I should say that the better classes in Pascuaro are fairer and have more colour than is general in Mexico; and if this is so, it may be owing partly to the climate being cooler and damper, and partly to their taking more exercise (there being no carriages here), whereas in Mexico no family of any importance can ...
— Life in Mexico • Frances Calderon de la Barca

... Boom! the streets of the city rose and fell with the undulating motion of a swelling sea. Blacker and blacker grew the sky; closer and closer the atmosphere; damper and damper became the fog; thicker and thicker fell the ...
— The Land of the Changing Sun • William N. Harben

... fevers in and after the wet season, and the lower parts of which are so malarious that few who spend three nights in them, even in the dry season, escape an attack. The banks of the rivers and other damper spots will continue to breed this curse of maritime Africa, although things will doubtless improve when the country grows more settled, and the marshes have been drained, and the long grass has been eaten down by cattle; for when the tsetse-fly has ceased to be dangerous ...
— Impressions of South Africa • James Bryce

... which Vespasian's road-makers literally hewed their way. Given these forests—which, by the way, extended over the greater part of England—we must infer a climate totally unlike ours of this present day, damper perhaps, but milder. Within his belt of trees the colonist, secure from the prevailing winds, would plant a garden to rival your gardens of the South—'primus vere rosam atque ...
— The Westcotes • Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

... ascend the river a tempest arose, which kept me a weary prisoner among the reeds of the rice marsh. The hollow reeds made poor fuel for cooking, and when the dark, stormy night shut down upon me, the damp soil grew damper as the tide arose, until it threatened to overflow the land. For hours I lay in my narrow canoe waiting for the tidal flood to do its worst, but it receded, and left me without any means of building a fire, as the reeds were wet by the storm. The next afternoon, being tired ...
— Voyage of The Paper Canoe • N. H. Bishop



Words linked to "Damper" :   cushion, chimney, restraint, damp, shock absorber, shock, device, plate, dash-pot



Copyright © 2024 e-Free Translation.com