ˈmill-dam
[mill n.1]
A dam constructed across a stream to interrupt its flow and raise its level so as to render it available for turning a mill-wheel. Also, the entire area covered by the water held in check by the dam.
| 1182 in Kennett Par. Ant. (1818) I. 187 Per le mulnedam..in veterem rivulum et ipsam mulnedam. 1394–5 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 599 Mosse pro le Milndam. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 183 He went furth vnto þe myln dam of þe abbay, & þer he lowpid in & drownyd hym. c 1575 in Balfour's Practicks (1754) 581 Thay tak smoltis or salmond in the miln-dammis. 1632 Morpeth Ct. Leet Rec. in Archæol. æliana XVI. 72 For Castinge hir yarne into the millne dame..and dampnum iijs. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 51 As thirteen boys were sliding near a mill dam..the ice broke by the miller's suddenly drawing up the sluices. 1880 Jamieson, Mill-dam,..the water collected, by means of a dam, to supply a mill. |
| attrib. 1833 Tennyson Poems 33 Fishing in the milldam-water. |