damper — ODE · Shobdo

damper /ˈdampə

▸ noun

1 a person or thing that has a subduing or inhibiting effect:

there's nothing like a swarm of bees to completely put a damper on a graduation ceremony.

▪ Music a pad silencing a piano string except when removed by means of a pedal or by the note being struck.

▪ a device for reducing mechanical vibration, in particular a shock absorber on a motor vehicle.

▪ a conductor used to reduce oscillation in an electric motor or generator.

▪ a movable metal plate in a flue or chimney, used to regulate the draught and so control the rate of combustion.

2 mainly Australian and New Zealand English an unleavened loaf or cake of flour and water baked in wood ashes.

[in the sense ‘something that takes the edge off the appetite’]

– PHRASES

put a damper on have a subduing or inhibiting effect on:

he put a damper on her youthful excitement.