DAM

dam. Dam, n. a mother of brutes, bank to stop water

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Dam (dăm), n. [[OE. dame mistress, lady; also, mother, dam. See Dame.]] 1. 1. A female parent; — used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother.
Our sire and dam, now confined to horses, are a relic of this age (13th century) . . . .Dame is used of a hen; we now make a great difference between dame and dam. T. L. K. Oliphant. The dam runs lowing up and down, Looking the way her harmless young one went. Shak. 2. 2. A king or crowned piece in the game of draughts.