tamp

present singular third person tamps · participle present tamping · participle past tamped · past tamped

1. blastingTo plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock.
2. To drive in or pack down by frequent gentle strokes

   Tamp earth so as to make a smooth place.

   1 more example

   Typically for the 'get-on-with-it' era, the railway and military worked like demons to restore the vital rail link. The crater was rapidly filled in and the earth tamped solid, the wreckage was removed by breakdown trains, new rails and sleepers were rushed forward by willing hands, and US Army bulldozers piled in. By 2020 on the same day, both tracks were open for traffic again where there had been a gaping pit just hours before.

   2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43

present singular third person tamps · participle present tamping · participle past tamped · past tamped

1. transitiveTo reduce the intensity of.

   A small bit of relief tamped her initial trepidation.

   2017, Ari Thatcher, Loving Her Alphas

   3 more examples

   A single thought tamped her outrage: the chance that Meredith wasn't alone in her suspicions.

   2013, Kristina McMorris, The Pieces We Keep

   Whatever doubts she struggled with, they hadn't tamped her hunger for him.

   2014, Christy Carlyle, Scandalous Wager

   Lucy bit the inside of her cheek and tamped her anger down.

   2020, Jessie Gussman, An Amish Sanctuary