jam
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈd͡ʒæm/
ipa: [ˈd͡ʒeəm]
ipa: /ˈdʒæːm/
homophone: jamb
rhymes: -æm
Forms: form: jams
form: jamming
form: jammed
form: jammed
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.
Senses: examples: text: My foot got jammed in a gap between the rocks.
text: Her poor little baby toe got jammed in the door.
text: I jammed the top knuckle of my ring finger.
text: The Ship, which by its Building was Spanish, stuck fast, jaum’d in between two Rocks; all the Stern and Quarter of her was beaten to Pieces with the Sea […]
ref: 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719, →OCLC, page 226:
glosses: To get something stuck, often (though not necessarily) in a confined space.
examples: text: They temporarily stopped the gas tank leak by jamming a piece of taffy into the hole.
text: The rush-hour train was jammed with commuters.
text: Jamm’d in at midnight, in cold winter weather,
ref: 1779, George Colman, Farewell Epilogue, spoken at Wynnstay after the representation of Cymbeline and The Spanish Barber, 22 January, 1779, in Prose on Several Occasions: Accompanied with Some Pieces in Verse, London: T. Cadel, 1787, Volume 3, p. 283, Since the new post-horse tax, I dare engage That some folks here have travell’d in the Stage
roman: The crouded passengers are glew’d together.
glosses: To brusquely force something into a space; to cram, to squeeze.
examples: text: 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).
ref: 2019 February 14, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.3.3 Elevator Load Testing”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Runway Overrun During Rejected Takeoff, Ameristar Air Cargo, Inc., dba Ameristar Charters, flight 9363, Boeing MD-83, N786TW, Ypsilanti, Michigan, March 8, 2017, archived from the original on 02 Jul 2022, page 56:
glosses: To render something unable to move.
examples: text: A single accident can jam the roads for hours.
glosses: To cause congestion or blockage. Often used with "up".
examples: text: The government jams foreign propaganda broadcasts.
text: The airstrike suffered minimal casualties because electronic-warfare aircraft were jamming the enemy air-defense radars.
glosses: To block or confuse a radio or radar signal by transmitting a more-powerful signal on the same frequency.
examples: text: Jones was jammed by the pitch.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands.
topics: ball-games
basketball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To dunk.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: To play music (especially improvisation as a group, or an informal unrehearsed session).
examples: text: When he tripped on the step he jammed his toe.
glosses: To injure a finger or toe by sudden compression of the digit's tip.
examples: text: Toughie jammed four times in the second period.
qualifier: roller derby
glosses: To attempt to score points.
examples: text: 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 ----"
ref: (Can we date this quote?), William Clark Russell, The Golden Hope:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To bring (a vessel) so close to the wind that half her upper sails are laid aback.
glosses: To give up on a date or some other joint endeavour; to stand up, chicken out, jam out.
examples: text: I love this song! This song jams!
glosses: To be of high quality.
Synonyms: ram
Derived terms: word: jam band
word: jammable
word: jammer
word: jam one's hype
word: jam on the brakes
word: jam up
word: logjam
sense: to squeeze into a small space
word: jam-pack
word: unjam