Meaning & use
vamp
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Meanings
nouncountableold-fashioneddisapproving
In older films and stories, a seductive woman who uses attraction to control or exploit men.
Grammar: Countable and dated: a silent-film vamp.
Patterns
- play the vamp
- a vamp in a film
The silent film starred an actress known for playing the vamp.
Old posters show a dark-eyed vamp in a feathered gown.
The novel's villain is a scheming vamp who ruins a rich man.
verbtransitive or intransitivemusic
To make up a short, repeated musical pattern as accompaniment, often while waiting for a singer or soloist.
Grammar: Both are possible: the pianist vamped for a moment, or he vamped a chord pattern.
Patterns
- vamp on something
- vamp until someone is ready
The band vamped on two chords while the singer tied her shoe.
The pianist vamped quietly under the actor's speech.
He vamped a groove on the guitar to warm up the crowd.
nouncountablemusic
A short repeated musical passage used as an introduction or backing.
Grammar: Countable: play a vamp.
Patterns
- a vamp on something
The song opens with a simple piano vamp.
The drummer added a vamp to extend the ending.
verbphrasal verbinformal
To repair or give something old a new look, usually followed by up.
Grammar: Takes an object and up: vamp up the old plan.
Patterns
- vamp something up
She vamped up an old jacket with colorful buttons.
They vamped up the menu to attract younger diners.
Word forms
| plural | vamps |
|---|---|
| third person singular | vamps |
| past tense | vamped |
| past participle | vamped |
| -ing form | vamping |
Common combinations
- vamp it up
- The singer vamped it up for the cameras.
- vamp on
- The band vamped on a funky riff.
- play the vamp
- She played the vamp in two silent films.
- vamp until ready
- The pianist vamped until the soloist was ready.
- vamp up
- They vamped up the old song with new horns.
Synonyms and how they differ
- improvise
- Improvise covers making up anything on the spot, while vamp is a specific musical filler that repeats.
- femme fatale
- Femme fatale is a French borrowing for a dangerously attractive woman and sounds more serious and literary than the dated vamp.
- seductress
- Seductress is a general word for a woman who seduces, whereas vamp belongs to the early film era.
- fill
- Fill describes any way of using time or space, and does not suggest a repeated musical figure.
Word family
Commonly confused: vamp or vampire?
vamp vs vampire
A vampire is a bloodsucking creature of legend. The film sense of vamp comes from a clipped form of the word, but the two are not the same.
Practice
While the actor looked for his missing prop, the pianist ____ softly on two chords to fill the silence.
Choose one answer.
Vamped means improvised a repeating accompaniment, which fits filling silence. The other verbs do not carry that musical meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vamp”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.