capoccia's Journal: On the Meaning of Tamp

Democrats are scrambling to tamp down former Vice President Al Gore and firebrand Howard Dean before they step to the convention podium, worried they may embarrass John Kerry with red-meat anger and excessive Bush bashing.
        --The Boston Herald, DNC: Don't bash Bush: Kerry wants Dems to tone down criticism by David R. Guarino and Andrew Miga

That's an odd use of the word tamp. One of the definitions is, "To pack clay, sand, or dirt into (a drill hole) above an explosive." So they're hurriedly preparing Dean for his explosion? It might backfire like Phineas Gage discovered.

Re:

[account_deleted]

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tamping tobacco

[elmegil]

You can also tamp tobacco into a pipe, which makes it burn more slowly.