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Jam
Definitions
- 1 Abbreviation of Jamaica. abbreviation, alt-of
- 1 A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts countable, uncommon, uncountable
"He is allergic to jam."
- 2 A kind of frock for children. dated
- 3 Alternative form of jamb. alt-of, alternative
- 4 A household that is only barely able to meet its financial obligations. UK, informal
"Well, technically, a Jam is a working-class Brexit voter who feels alienated by the creeping march of globalisation."
- 5 deliberate radiation or reflection of electromagnetic energy for the purpose of disrupting enemy use of electronic devices or systems wordnet
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 A difficult situation. countable
"It's a blackmail ring, and the district attorneys get a share of the loot. […] Well, they got him in the same kind of jam, and soaked him to the tune of three hundred and eighty-six thousand."
- 7 preserve of crushed fruit wordnet
- 8 A difficult situation.; A difficult situation for a pitcher or defending team. countable
"The pitcher's in a jam now, having walked the bases loaded with the cleanup hitter coming to bat."
- 9 a dense crowd of people wordnet
- 10 A blockage, congestion, or immobilization. countable
"a jam on the 101 South, blocking the two right lanes [radio report]"
- 11 informal terms for a difficult situation wordnet
- 12 An informal, impromptu performance or rehearsal. common, countable
- 13 A song; a track. broadly, countable, informal
"And a mix CD titled "Summer Jamz 2000." Jamz is spelled with a "z"."
- 14 An informal event where people brainstorm and collaborate on projects. broadly, countable
"We came up with some new ideas at the game jam."
- 15 That which one particularly prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about. countable, slang
"Teaching is my jam."
- 16 A forceful dunk. countable
- 17 A play during which points can be scored. countable
"Toughie scored four points in that jam."
- 18 Any of several manoeuvres requiring wedging of an extremity into a tight space. countable
"I used a whole series of fist and foot jams in that crack."
- 19 The tree Acacia acuminata, with fruity-smelling hard timber. Australia, countable, uncountable
- 20 Luck. UK, countable, slang, uncountable
"He's got more jam than Waitrose."
- 21 Balls, bollocks, courage, machismo. Canada, countable, slang, uncountable
"I don't think he has the jam."
- 22 Sexual relations or the contemplation of them. countable, slang, uncountable
- 23 Something enjoyable; a delightful situation or outcome. countable, slang, uncountable
"’Tis fine to be a pretty girl, or just a gay and witty girl, And obviously to be both is rightly counted jam, But even more desirable, and clearly less acquirable, Is that mysterious quality denominated glam."
- 1 To get something stuck, often (though not necessarily) in a confined space.
"My foot got jammed in a gap between the rocks."
- 2 interfere with or prevent the reception of signals wordnet
- 3 To brusquely force something into a space; to cram, to squeeze.
"They temporarily stopped the gas tank leak by jamming a piece of taffy into the hole."
- 4 block passage through wordnet
- 5 To render something unable to move.
"Considering the results of the CFD wind simulation, the NTSB designed several series of static and dynamic elevator load tests to determine what conditions, consistent with the known circumstances of the accident, could enable the inboard actuating crank and links of the right elevator's geared tab to move beyond their normal range of travel and become locked in an overcenter position (and, as a result, jam the right elevator)."
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 crush or bruise wordnet
- 7 To cause congestion or blockage. Often used with "up".
"A single accident can jam the roads for hours."
- 8 crowd or pack to capacity wordnet
- 9 To block or confuse a radio or radar signal by transmitting a more-powerful signal on the same frequency.
"The government jams foreign propaganda broadcasts."
- 10 get stuck and immobilized wordnet
- 11 To throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands.
"Jones was jammed by the pitch."
- 12 push down forcibly wordnet
- 13 To dunk.
- 14 press tightly together or cram wordnet
- 15 To play music (especially improvisation as a group, or an informal unrehearsed session).
- 16 To injure a finger or toe by sudden compression of the digit's tip.
"When he tripped on the step he jammed his toe."
- 17 To attempt to score points.
"Toughie jammed four times in the second period."
- 18 To bring (a vessel) so close to the wind that half her upper sails are laid aback. transitive
"It won't do to jam her,” answered Stone ;" but it might be worth findin' out if th' Hope won't lie closer than t' other can." Half a point ----""
- 19 To give up on a date or some other joint endeavour; to stand up, chicken out, jam out. Canada, informal
- 20 To be of high quality (especially for music). colloquial
"I love this song! This song jams!"
Etymology
First attested in the early 18th c. as a verb meaning “to press, be pressed, be wedged in”. Compare dialectal jammock (“to press, squeeze, crush into a soft mass, chew food"; also "a soft, pulpy substance”). Perhaps from Middle English chammen, champen ("to bite upon something, gnash the teeth"; whence modern champ, chomp), of uncertain origin; probably originally onomatopoeic. The "performance" sense is first attested with regards to jazz in 1929, and its origin, though uncertain, is likely metaphorical, "something sweet made by the combination of many things", with influence from jamboree.
First attested in the early 18th c. as a verb meaning “to press, be pressed, be wedged in”. Compare dialectal jammock (“to press, squeeze, crush into a soft mass, chew food"; also "a soft, pulpy substance”). Perhaps from Middle English chammen, champen ("to bite upon something, gnash the teeth"; whence modern champ, chomp), of uncertain origin; probably originally onomatopoeic. The "performance" sense is first attested with regards to jazz in 1929, and its origin, though uncertain, is likely metaphorical, "something sweet made by the combination of many things", with influence from jamboree.
From Persian or Hindi, meaning "garment, robe;" see جامه (“garment”). Related to pajamas.
Initialism, from just about managing.
See also for "jam"
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