vamp
/væmp/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.86 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The top part of a boot or shoe, above the sole and welt and in front of the ankle seam, that covers the instep and toes; the front part of an upper; the analogous part of a stocking.
noun
Something patched up, pieced together, improvised, or refurbished.
noun
A repeated and often improvised accompaniment, usually consisting of one or two measures, often a single chord or simple chord progression, repeated as necessary, for example, to accommodate dialogue or to anticipate the entrance of a soloist.
noun
An activity or speech intended to fill or stall for time.
Example Sentences
- "The flow of water was in my ears, and in my eyes a hazy spreading, and upon my brain a closure, as a cobbler sews a vamp up."
- "'Yes, I am rather cracked in the vamp,' he said freely, seeing that the eyes of the shepherd's wife fell upon his boots, 'and I am not well fitted either. I have had rough times lately, and have been forced to pick up what I can get in the way of wearing, but I must find a suit better fit for working days when I reach home.'"
- "Their dark brown shoes had hand-stitched vamps."
- "I would go even further and say that, once [Stephen] Sondheim had ceased to compose classical music with its nonspecific accompaniments, he began to explore how effectively a vamp can flesh out a character for the stage. He had little need to write distinctive vamps for his Williams [College] shows, but already in 1954—before the highly characteristic vamps in West Side Story—we see him growing in his ability to get under a character's skin through his accompaniment."
- "On the mega-rave circuit, a pop hardcore sound gradually emerged, fusing the piano vamps and shrieking divas of 1989-era Italo house with Belgian hardcore's monster-riffs and Shut Up and Dance style breakbeats and rumblin' bass."
- "'Set me some great task, ye gods! and I will show my spirit.' 'Not so,' says the good Heaven; 'plod and plough, vamp your old coats and hats, weave a shoestring; great affairs and the best wine by and by.'"
Etymology
From Middle English vaumpe, vaum-pei, vampe (“covering for the foot, perhaps a slipper or understocking; upper of a boot or shoe”), or from Anglo-Norman vampe, *vaumpé (“part of a stocking covering the top of the foot”), from Old French avantpied, avantpiet, variants of avantpié, from avant (“in front”) + pié (“foot”). Noun senses 2 and 3 (“a patch; something patched up or improvised”) appear to have been extended from sense 1 (“top part of a boot or shoe”). Sense 4 (“repeated and often improvised musical accompaniment”) was probably derived from sense 3, and sense 5 (“activity to fill or stall for time”) from sense 4. The verb senses were derived from the noun. Compare also Middle English vaum-peien (“(uncertain) to repair (footwear) with a new upper or vamp; to fabricate an upper or vamp”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: vaumpe, vampe, avantpied
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /væmp/
- British English: /væmp/
Usage
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb
- British usage
- Obsolete
- Slang
- Informal
- American usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
promiscuous woman
vampie