What does "gammon" mean?
A cut of quick-cured pork leg.
Gammon
/ˈɡæmən/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A cut of quick-cured pork leg.
- Grammar: gammon is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: ham, absurdity, act, act a part.
- Useful contrasts: disclose, expose, fresh pork.
- Usage evidence: I prefer to eat gammon with mustard.
How to use "gammon"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gammon" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gammon" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "gammon" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "gammon" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "gammon" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "ham" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "gammon", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A cut of quick-cured pork leg. countable, uncountable
"[T]he cooks were laying a refection before him of sack and anchovies and garlic sausage and gammons of bacon and - this was the important item - a great pudding dish out of which rose the noble dome of a crisp brown pie-crust."
- 2 A joke, trick; play, sport, merriment. countable, dialectal, uncountable
- 3 A rope fastening a bowsprit to the stem of a ship (usually called a gammoning).
- 4 Chatter, ridiculous nonsense. dated, uncountable
"Some people maintains^([sic]) that an Englishman's house is his castle. That's gammon."
- 5 A middle-aged or older right-wing, reactionary white man, or such men collectively. UK, countable, derogatory, neologism, uncountable
"Yeah, let the bitch drown / Got the gammons all feeling sick now / Great Britannia's lost all hope, she's broke"
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 hind portion of a side of bacon wordnet
- 7 A victory in backgammon achieved when the opponent has not borne off a single stone. countable, uncountable
"Toward the end of the game Roger had not borne off a single stone belonging to Roseanna, and she scored a gammon. She could not hide the triumph in her eyes. “Perhaps you will play a better game if we play for something closer to your heart,” she suggested."
- 8 meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked) wordnet
- 9 Backgammon (the game itself). countable, rare, uncountable
"We started about 7:00 drinking beers and playing gammon. Then after getting a little “loose” we went to a girls dorm."
Verb
- 1 To cure bacon by salting.
- 2 To joke, kid around, play. dialectal
- 3 To lash with ropes (on a ship).
"“No, by thunder !” he cried, “it's us must break the treaty when the time comes; and till then I'll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy.”"
- 4 To deceive; to lie plausibly to. colloquial, dated, transitive
"And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir."
- 5 To beat by a gammon (without the opponent bearing off a stone).
Adjective
- 1 Fake, pretend; bullshit. Papua-New-Guinea
"I was just being gammon."
Proper Noun
- 1 the Shelta or Cant language of the Irish Travelling Community. Ireland
Example
"I prefer to eat gammon with mustard."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gammon"?
Common synonyms include: ham, absurdity, act, act a part, affect, amphigory.
How do you use "gammon" in a sentence?
I prefer to eat gammon with mustard.
How do you pronounce "gammon"?
Pronounced /ˈɡæmən/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English *gammon, gambon, from Old French gambon (compare modern French jambon (“ham”)), from gambe (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ). Doublet of jambon and jamon.
Etymology 2
From Middle English gamnen, gomnen, gamenen, gomenen, from Old English gamnian, gæmnian, gamenian (“to joke, play”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamanōn, from Proto-Germanic *gamanōną (“to play, have fun, joke”). Cognate with Middle High German gamenen (“to mock, make fun of”), Icelandic gamna (“to have fun”). More at game.
Etymology 3
Perhaps related to the first etymology, with reference to tying up a ham.
Etymology 4
Perhaps a special use of the word from etymology 2.
Etymology 5
Gained popularity in 2017 (in the phrase "Great Wall of Gammon", likening the referents' rosy complexions to gammon (“ham, bacon”)), although the metaphor was in use earlier: the BBC points to a 2016 use of “gammon face”.