damper

/ˈdæmpər/

/ˈdæmpə/

Other forms: dampers

When you put a damper on something, you restrain it or inhibit it. Putting a damper on things usually means bringing them down — your car troubles might put a damper on your travel plans.

A forecast of afternoon thunderstorms will put a damper on your picnic preparations, and being assigned a long research paper on Friday might be a damper on your weekend free time. More physical kinds of dampers include a device that restrains air in a chimney, by blocking or directing its flow, and a pad that's made to soften or muffle the sound from a musical instrument.

Definitions of damper

1. noun

   a depressing restraint
   “rain put a damper on our picnic plans”

   type of:

   restraint

   the act of controlling by restraining someone or something
2. noun

   a movable iron plate that regulates the draft in a stove or chimney or furnace
   type of:

   plate

   a sheet of metal or wood or glass or plastic
3. noun

   a device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations
   synonyms: muffler

   types:

   damper block, piano damper

   damper consisting of a small felted block that drops onto a piano string to stop its vibration

   dash-pot

   a mechanical damper; the vibrating part is attached to a piston that moves in a chamber filled with liquid

   cushion, shock, shock absorber

   a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses

   air cushion, air spring

   a mechanical device using confined air to absorb the shock of motion

   type of:

   device

   an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose