vamp
Pronunciation Noun

vamp (plural vamps)

  1. The top#Noun|top part#Noun|part of a boot#Noun|boot or shoe#Noun|shoe, above the sole#Noun|sole and welt and in front of the ankle seam#Noun|seam, that covers the instep and toes; the front part of an upper#Noun|upper; the analogous part of a stocking#Noun|stocking. [from c. 1225]
    • 1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter XX, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. [...] In Three Volumes, volume II, London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], OCLC 847456482 ↗, pages 279–280 ↗:
      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.
    • 1883 March, Thomas Hardy, “The Three Strangers”, in Wessex Tales: Strange, Lively, and Commonplace [...] In Two Volumes, volume I, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1888, OCLC 911789333 ↗, page 24 ↗:
      '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.'
  2. Something added to give an old thing a new appearance; a patch#Noun|patch.
  3. Something patch#Verb|patched up, piece#Verb|pieced together, improvised, or refurbished.
  4. (music) A repeated#Adjective|repeated and often improvised#Adjective|improvised accompaniment, usually consisting of one or two measure#noun|measures, often a single chord or simple chord progression, repeated as necessary, for example, to accommodate dialogue#Noun|dialogue or to anticipate the entrance of a soloist. [from c. 1789]
  5. (by extension) An activity or speech intended to fill#Verb|fill or stall for time.
Verb

vamp (vamps, present participle vamping; past and past participle vamped)

  1. (transitive) To patch#Verb|patch, repair#Verb|repair, or refurbish.
    • 1860, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “IX. Illusions.”, in The Conduct of Life, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, OCLC 773234300 ↗, page 284 ↗:
      '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.'
  2. (transitive) Often as vamp up: to fabricate or put together (something) from existing#Adjective|existing material, or by adding new material to something existing.
    • 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Vincent Crummles, and Positively His Last Appearance on the Stage”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, OCLC 1057107260 ↗, page 478 ↗:
      For instance, you take the uncompleted books of living authors, fresh from their hands, wet from the press, cut, hack, and carve them to the powers and capacities of your actors, and the capability of your theatres, finish unfinished works, hastily and crudely vamp up ideas not yet worked out by their original projector, but which have doubtless cost him many thoughtful days and sleepless nights; {{...}
    • 1911 May 20, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesteron, “The Flying Stars”, in The Innocence of Father Brown, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, published 1911, OCLC 2716904 ↗, page 112 ↗:
      With real though rude art, the harlequin danced slowly backwards out of the door into the garden, which was full of moonlight and stillness. The vamped dress of silver paper and paste, which had been too glaring in the footlights, looked more and more magical and silvery as it danced away under a brilliant moon.
  3. (transitive) To cobble together, to extemporize, to improvise.
    • 1728, [Alexander Pope], “
      ”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. In Three Books, Dublin; London: Reprinted for A. Dodd, OCLC 1033416756 ↗, page 13 ↗:
      A paſt, vamp'd, future, old, reviv'd, new piece, / 'Twixt ''{{w
  1. (ambitransitive, music, specifically) To perform a vamp.
    • 1880, [George] Bernard Shaw, chapter I, in The Irrational Knot [...] Being the Second Novel of His Nonage, London: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1905, OCLC 1050472693 ↗, page 14 ↗:
      "It is so unkind to joke about it," said the beautiful young lady. "What shall I do? If somebody will vamp an accompaniment, I can get on very well without any music. But if I try to play for myself I shall break down."
  • (transitive, shoemaking) To attach a vamp (to footwear).
  • (ambitransitive, now, dialectal) To travel#Verb|travel by foot#Noun|foot; to walk#Verb|walk.
    • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter I, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented [...] In Three Volumes, volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], OCLC 13623666 ↗, phase the first (The Maiden), page 12 ↗:
      Well, vamp on to Marlott, will 'ee, and order that carriage, and maybe I'll drive round and inspect the club.
  • (intransitive) To delay#Verb|delay or stall for time, as for an audience.
    Keep vamping! Something’s wrong with the mic!
    She went out there to vamp since the speaker was late arriving.
  • Noun

    vamp (plural vamps)

    1. A flirtatious, seductive woman, especially one who exploit#Verb|exploits man#Noun|men by use#Verb|using their sexual desire#Noun|desire for her. [from c. 1915]
      • 1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “The Connoisseur of Kisses”, in The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, OCLC 916056193 ↗, book 1, page 95 ↗:
        She was got up to the best of her ability as a siren, more popularly a "vamp"—a picker up and thrower away of men, an unscrupulous and fundamentally unmoved toyer with affections.
      • 1927 September, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesteron, “The Actor and the Alibi”, in The Secret of Father Brown, London; Toronto, Ont.: Cassell and Company, OCLC 968450825 ↗, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4097210;view=1up;seq=168 page 148]:
        "Lady Miriam?" said Jarvis in surprise. "Oh, yes. … I suppose you mean that she looks a queer sort of vamp. But you've no notion what even the ladies of the best families are looking like nowadays. […]"
    2. (informal) A vampire.
    Synonyms Translations Verb

    vamp (vamps, present participle vamping; past and past participle vamped)

    1. (transitive) To seduce or exploit#Verb|exploit someone.
    Noun

    vamp (plural vamps)

    1. (US, slang) A volunteer#Noun|volunteer firefighter.



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