How to Use vamp in a Sentence

vamp

1 of 2 noun
  • Tonal cords crossed from the vamp to the top of the shaft in front.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 21 June 2026
  • The pumps were designed with a low-cut vamp.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 1 May 2026
  • Off the runways, high-vamp heels soon took over the streets.
    — Morgan Evans, InStyle, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Each vamp holds one of the hats to have been stuffed with either names or dares.
    — Matt Thompson, SPIN, 8 Nov. 2023
  • The vamp dipped low at the front while the back counter stayed closed and structured.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 15 Dec. 2025
  • Sun Ra wrote a vamp that the saxes couldn’t seem to learn.
    — Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Matt and Pete had stuck around to rat-a-tat their vamp.
    — Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
  • The shoes feature a faux lace-up and brogue details at the vamp.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 18 June 2026
  • The heel featured a square low-cut vamp that flattered the foot.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Soft black suede covered the vamp with laces criss crossing over top.
    — Tara Larson, Footwear News, 28 Dec. 2025
  • This chic flat has a single skinny strap across the vamp and a square toe.
    — Cheryl Wagemann, InStyle, 20 June 2026
  • The vamp zipper closure on these lug-sole boots give them a trendy feel.
    — Lauren Caruso, CNN Underscored, 27 Oct. 2020
  • The shoe features a low-cut vamp that gives the shoe a sharp silhouette.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2025
  • These are a perfect example of square-toed high-vamp heels.
    — Kaitlin Clapinski, InStyle, 15 Feb. 2026
  • The white pair had a soft, rounded-square toe and a low vamp that exposed the top of the foot.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 10 May 2026
  • So, snag lookalikes for Steep’s high-vamp pumps below.
    — Eva Thomas, InStyle, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The shoes feature a high, round vamp, revealing just the top of the singer’s foot.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Her pair featured a pointed toe and slim heel, cut low on the vamp and held by a thin strap at the back.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • The heels featured a low, slight V-cut vamp that left the top of the foot exposed.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
  • The cool-girl shoes have statement square toes and extra-high vamps, plus a super glossy sheen.
    — Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 3 July 2026
  • The cool-girl shoes have statement square toes and extra-high vamps, plus a super glossy sheen.
    — Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Also fitting in with the theme was a dainty bow affixed to the vamp.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • The pointed pumps, cut low across the vamp and set on a slim heel, brought a soft contrast to the ivory dirndl.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • With a high vamp, these lace-up flats bring back the ‘90s in the best possible way.
    — Cheryl Wagemann, InStyle, 20 June 2026
  • Choose a pair with a low vamp to reveal a sliver of skin under your pants’ hemline.
    — Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 16 Jan. 2026
  • The shoes are designed with a strap over the vamp that narrows toward the center.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 9 Dec. 2025
  • The brown shoe features a metal horse bit detail across the vamp and a slingback strap.
    — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2025
  • The stitched vamp adds a timeless look that pairs well with almost anything in your suitcase.
    — Maverick Li, menshealth.com, 10 June 2023
  • The pumps have a low square-cut vamp that adds a modern touch to the traditional style.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 26 Dec. 2025
  • The shoes featured a pointed toe, tall heel and two slender buckled straps across the vamp.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 16 Dec. 2025

vamp

2 of 2 verb
  • In the end, Kimmel even had to vamp for a few minutes — more on that in a moment.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024
  • Dropkin is like a WWE star vamping to the crowd.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
  • While the mark of a truly good broadcaster is the ability to vamp through a blowout, this was a step beyond.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 4 June 2021
  • As on much of the album, Bennett plays the straight man as Gaga cheekily vamps around him.
    — Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Tonight the castle was lit up like a movie set with klieg lights and scores of Cinecittà extras vamping as cardinals.
    — Nicole Phelps, Vogue, 15 July 2025
  • With 20 minutes to go and only three awards to give out, Anderson had to vamp to kill a little time.
    — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Broadcasters vamped with images of players milling around while their producers scrambled.
    — Harvard Business Review, 1 Jan. 2026
  • While Izzard vamps up a storm here, sporting effortlessly chic cherry-red lips and nails, many of the roles feel less than fleshed out.
    — Karen D'souza, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2025
  • The ad ends with the four actresses vamping and posing, their hairstyles transformed by Ross' new line of products.
    — Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 30 June 2025
  • Cycling through a series of high boots, Beyoncé vogued and vamped, swaggered and stampeded.
    — Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 23 July 2023
  • Gaga, however, Gaga-fies it, joyfully vamping all over the melody as if she’s morphed into a saxophone.
    — Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 19 Mar. 2025
  • But recognition from a vamping artificial neural net is better than nothing.
    — Steven Levy, WIRED, 5 Jan. 2024
  • Shot atop a Los Angeles skyscraper, the ultra-glamorous shoot allowed Hudson to vamp it up.
    — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 2 Nov. 2021
  • But vamping it up in the audience, serving drinks and taking Polaroids with people, and playing up this tongue-in-cheek character is super fun for me.
    — Hannah Summerhill, Vogue, 12 Jan. 2024
  • For her latest awards show appearance, Saldaña went vamped things up in a black lace Saint Laurent gown with a dramatic tulle and lace neckline.
    — Raven Brunner, People.com, 16 Feb. 2025
  • The options are vast, ranging from Rita Ora vamping on one station and drunk gay daddies being spotlighted on another.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2025
  • My Little Puny sparkles in a double role as the prince and the fairy godmother, but Tabitha is a scene-stealing vamping diva as the evil stepmother.
    — Barry Levitt, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025
  • And their evocation of the perfectionism of the younger Bruce, who would order the band to vamp for several hours as he sound-checked every corner of an arena, tells you a lot about him.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 Sep. 2024
  • The satirist aims his ageless wit on a Prohibition-era entertainment industry still vamping its way out of Vaudeville.
    — Boris Kachka, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2023
  • McCarthy vamps it up as the conniving Ursula, going big but not too big — the one special effect that escapes the rest of the film’s soulless spectacle.
    — Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 May 2024
  • Pictured below, this was a Hollywood icon dressed (in a dress that actually functioned as a dress) unapologetically made up to the nines, and vamping her heart out.
    — Guy Martin, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024
  • In the livestream, which garnered hundreds of thousands of viewers, Gill vamped for about an hour against the backdrop of GameStop’s violently fluctuating share price.
    — Prarthana Prakash, Fortune, 15 June 2024
  • The play's conclusion, which finds Gardner's apartment turned into a set that is being actively torn down, and Gardner vamping for the camera, is provocative but hollow.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 20 Apr. 2023
  • Not surprisingly given the film’s below-the-belt bent, a circumcision gag follows, while Rod has to vamp his way through all the fabulous attributes the trio have ascribed to Stanicky through the years.
    — Brian Lowry, CNN, 6 Mar. 2024
  • To execute the latter, Soper brings in Pleasure and Idleness, who vamp their way through an insinuating showstopper that rests on a four-note descending bass, in the tradition of the Baroque lament.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023
  • Specifically, a 1940s B-picture conjuring up some heavy Maria Montez mojo, known as Kiss of the Spider Woman — a typically hyperventilating melodrama that featured a vamping diva playing several parts, including the venomous title character.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vamp.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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