vbl. sb. [f. TAMP v. + -ING1.] The action of the verb TAMP: the plugging or filling up of a blast-hole above the charge; the packing of the part of a military mine nearest the charge with earth or other material.
1808. J. Taylor, in Phil. Mag., XXX. 97 (article title). On Blasting Rocks, and Tamping.
1828. J. M. Spearman, Brit. Gunner (ed. 2), 301. The stoppage or tamping of a mine.
1845. Encycl. Metrop., XVI. 303/1. The sand-bags used for tamping should not be filled up to the top.
b. concr. The material used for this purpose.
1828. in Webster.
1843. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., VI. 120/2. It would have found vent by blowing out the tamping.
1909. Installation News, III. 63. The upper casting, to which the cable or tape is electrically connected by lead tamping.
c. attrib. and Comb., as tamping material; tamping-bar, -iron, = STEMMER: see quot. 1877; tamping-machine: see quot.; tamping-plug, a plug or stopper used to block up a bore-hole.
1838. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 292/1. Drawings of the jumpers, the *tamping bar, the needle, and the discharging reed.
1891. C. Roberts, Adrift Amer., 75. It was pick and shovel and tamping bar day in and day out.
1864. Webster, *Tamping-iron.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., Tamping-iron, a tool, prudently made of copper, by which the tamping is wadded down upon the cartridge or charge in a hole, for blasting. Ibid., *Tamping-machine..., a machine for packing clay or the material for artificial stone into a mold.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 836. Dry sand is sometimes used as a *tamping material.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Tamping-plug,… it usually consists of a cone with barbs, or of a set of wedge-shaped blocks, which jam by the pressure from beneath.
1884. Mil. Engineering (ed. 3), I. II. 116. Sandbags ready filled for *tamping purposes should be provided.
