a female parent; -- used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother.-a kind or crowned piece in the game of draughts.-a barrier to prevent the flow of a liquid; esp., a bank of earth, or wall of any kind, as of masonry or wood, built across a water course, to confine and keep back flowing water.-a firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.-to obstruct or restrain the flow of, by a dam; to confine by constructing a dam, as a stream of water; -- generally used with in or up.-to shut up; to stop up; to close; to restrain.