1. (n.) A female parent; -- used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother.

2. (n.) A kind or crowned piece in the game of draughts.

3. (n.) 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.

4. (n.) A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.

5. (v. t.) 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.

6. (v. t.) To shut up; to stop up; to close; to restrain.

arch dam arrest artificial lake backstop bamboo curtain bank bar barrage barrier bayou lake bear-trap dam beaver dam bind block block up blockade boom bottle up brake breakwater breastwork brick wall bring to bring up short buffer bulkhead bulwark bung caulk check checkmate chink choke choke off choke up cistern clog clog up cofferdam congest constipate cork countercheck cover curb cut short dam up damp dampen dead water deadlock defense delay detain dike ditch draw rein earthwork embankment etang farm pond fence fill fill up fishpond foster mother foul freeze freshwater lake gate genetrix glacial lake gravity dam groin halt hinder hold back hold in check hold up hydraulic-fill dam impede inhibit inland sea intercept interfere intermeddle interrupt intervene iron curtain jam jetty keep back keep in check lagoon laguna lake lakelet landlocked water leaping weir levee linn loch logjam lough ma mam mama mammy mater materfamilias maternal ancestor matriarch meddle mere milldam millpond millpool moat mole mom mommy mother mound mummy nyanza obstipate obstruct oppose oxbow lake pack parapet plash plug plug up pond pondlet pool portcullis puddle pull up put paid to rampart repress reservoir resist restrain retard roadblock rock-fill dam salina salt pond scotch seawall set back shutter dam slacken snub spile stagnant water stalemate stall stanch standing water stay stem stem the tide stench stepmother still water stone wall stop stop cold stop dead stop short stop up stopper stopple stuff stuff up sump suppress tank tarn the old woman tidal pond volcanic lake wall water hole water pocket weir well wicket dam work