How to use vamp in a sentence

22 example sentences · noun, verb

Vamp means the top part of a boot or shoe, above the sole and welt and in front of the ankle seam, that covers the instep and toes; the front part of an upper; the analogous part of a stocking. Example: “Keep vamping! Something’s wrong with the mic!”

Examples of vamp by meaning

nounThe top part of a boot or shoe, above the sole and welt and in front of the ankle seam, that covers the instep and...

Their dark brown shoes had hand-stitched vamps.1976, Chaim Grade, translated by Curt Leviant, The Yeshiva, Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill Company, →ISBN, page 164

nounA repeated and often improvised accompaniment, usually consisting of one or two measures, often a single chord or...

On the mega-rave circuit, a pop hardcore sound gradually emerged, fusing the piano vamps and shrieking divas of 1989-era Italo house with Belgian hardcore's monster-riffs and Shut Up and Dance style breakbeats and rumblin' bass.2012, Simon Reynolds, “’Ardcore, You Know the Score”, in Energy Flash: A Journey through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Berkeley, Calif....

verbOften as vamp up: to fabricate or put together (something) from existing material, or by adding new material to...

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.1911 May 20, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Flying Stars”, in The Innocence of Father Brown, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and...

verbTo perform a vamp (“a repeated, often improvised accompaniment, for example, under dialogue or while waiting for a...

Even when the other instruments were resting the pianist kept up his monotonous vamping, with a dreary furbelow for embellishment here and there, to which some few of the dancers continued to shuffle round the floor.1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 4, in The Subtle Minotaur, London: John Gifford […], →OCLC, →OL, page 52

verbTo 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.

verbTo pawn.

'I'll find my own fencing cove or else vamp it to a pawnbroker.'2017, Jake Arnott, The Fatal Tree

nounA flirtatious, seductive woman, especially one who exploits men by using their sexual desire for her.

It is the vamp who has a sense of humor that can really hold a man.1919 June, Renee Van Dyke, “Interesting Paragraphs about the Players”, in Geo[rge] M. Downs, Jr., editor, The Photo-play World, volume 2...
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.1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “The Connoisseur of Kisses”, in The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC...
And all the young men are warned against her as a vamp.1936, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Vampire of the Village”, in The Penguin Complete Father Brown, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, London...

nounA vampire.

The leader of the vampire cult (played by Ramon D'Salva) leads his cult of fellow vamps in an attack against some nasty werewolves.1992, Robert Marrero, Dracula: The Vampire Legend on Film, 1st American edition, Key West, Fla.: Fantasma Books, →ISBN, page 20, column 2

More sentences with vamp

The mangenue was easy pickings for that vamp.From the entry mangenue
First you're another sloe-eyed vamp, then someone's mother, then you're camp.1971, Stephen Sondheim, I'm Still Here (Follies song). From the entry sloe-eyed
“Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps.1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court. From the entry head
With a heavy make-up, you’ll be the cutest vamp I’ve seen in donkey's years.1923, The Bridgeport Telegram. From the entry donkey's years
The men were princely dressed in pin striped suits, fedora hats and broad toe shoes with patterned vamps.2020, Veronica Purcell, The Fourth Zaldizko (Seriphyn Knight Chronicles; book 2), Katarr Kanticles Press, page 7. From the entry desirably
Groupies who found a willing vamp to sire them?”2008, Yasmine Galenorn, Darkling, page 34. From the entry sire
“I figured it would be a big old vamp scare-a-palooza.”2002, Richie Tankersley, The Angel Chronicles, Simon and Schuster,, →ISBN, page 17. From the entry -a-palooza
"Second one vamped up for the occasion.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC. From the entry vamp up
KEVIN: Well, that's your classic vamp.2012 October 11, Freezer [username], “[MSTing] Unbreak My Spark - Part 4”, in rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc (Usenet). From the entry sparklepire
The vamp melted into his sizzling hit, "Don't Stop," and in a matter of seconds the audience was in the palm of his hand.1983 April 9, Charles Fuller Jr., “Sylvester Sparkles”, in Gay Community News, page 6. From the entry in the palm of one's hand
Even her vamptastic bat-patterned black leather footwear wasn’t enough to cheer her up, though . . . not when the adult vamps were acting more freaked out than ever.2015, Sienna Mercer, Spooktacular!, page 95. From the entry vamptastic

Meaning of vamp

noun The top part of a boot or shoe, above the sole and welt and in front of the ankle seam, that covers the instep and toes; the front part of an upper; the analogous part of a stocking.
noun Something added to give an old thing a new appearance.
noun Something patched up, pieced together, improvised, or refurbished.

Full definition of vamp

Questions about vamp in a sentence

How do you use vamp in a sentence?: Vamp is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Keep vamping! Something’s wrong with the mic!”
What is a short sentence with vamp?: “KEVIN: Well, that's your classic vamp.”
What does vamp mean?: Vamp means the top part of a boot or shoe, above the sole and welt and in front of the ankle seam, that covers the instep and toes; the front part of an upper; the analogous part of a stocking.

Adapted from Wiktionary: vamp (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use vamp in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/vamp. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.