jam
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈd͡ʒæm/
ipa: [ˈd͡ʒeəm]
ipa: /ˈdʒæːm/
homophone: jamb
rhymes: -æm
Forms: form: 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.
Senses: examples: text: He is allergic to jam.
text: She loves eating jam for breakfast in hotels.
synonyms: conserve
jelly
preserve
glosses: A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts
raw_tags: in the US and Canada
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1928, Upton Sinclair, Boston:
text: She was married when we first met / Soon to be divorced / I helped her out of a jam, I guess / But I used a little too much force
ref: 1975, Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue”:
text: Where, where is my common sense? / How did I get in a jam like this?
ref: 1977, David Byrne, “Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town”, in Talking Heads: 77, performed by Talking Heads:
synonyms: word: ass in a sling
word: bind
word: bucket of syrup
word: calvary
word: cross
word: cross to bear
word: difficulty
word: dilemma
word: dire straits
word: doghouse
word: fix
word: hole
word: jam
word: kettle of fish
word: ordeal
word: pickle
word: pinch
word: plight
word: predicament
word: quandary
word: quagmire
word: situation
word: spot
word: spot of bother
word: sticky situation
word: sticky wicket
word: tight spot
word: trouble
glosses: A difficult situation.
examples: text: The pitcher's in a jam now, having walked the bases loaded with the cleanup hitter coming to bat.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
synonyms: word: ass in a sling
word: bind
word: bucket of syrup
word: calvary
word: cross
word: cross to bear
word: difficulty
word: dilemma
word: dire straits
word: doghouse
word: fix
word: hole
word: jam
word: kettle of fish
word: ordeal
word: pickle
word: pinch
word: plight
word: predicament
word: quandary
word: quagmire
word: situation
word: spot
word: spot of bother
word: sticky situation
word: sticky wicket
word: tight spot
word: trouble
glosses: A difficult situation.
A difficult situation for a pitcher or defending team.
examples: text: a jam on the 101 South, blocking the two right lanes [radio report]
text: a jam of logs in a river
text: According to Boeing, in the history of this elevator design (which exists on all Boeing DC-9/MD-80 series and 717 model airplanes), this accident was the first notification that Boeing had received of an elevator jam occurring on an airplane exposed to ground gusts lower than 65 kts. Boeing noted that the elevator design first entered service in 1965 on the then-Douglas DC-9 airplane.
ref: 2019 February 14, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.3.2.3 Elevator Design Standard for Ground Gust Loads”, 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 12:
synonyms: jam-up
glosses: A blockage, congestion, or immobilization.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: An informal, impromptu performance or rehearsal.
examples: text: And a mix CD titled "Summer Jamz 2000." Jamz is spelled with a "z".
ref: 2025, S.E. Case, chapter 1, in Rigsby WI, volume 1: Foothold, →ISBN, retrieved 23 Aug 2025, page 16:
text: The result is an outstanding assortment of sophisticated, sexy and hip-hop-tinged R&B grooves, ballads and party jams.
ref: 2001, Jet, volume 100, number 22, page 25:
glosses: A song; a track.
examples: text: We came up with some new ideas at the game jam.
text: […] a day at new Farm Park with an art jam, fursuit games, and a nerf war, ending in the evening at the strike Wintergarden bowling center.
ref: 2017, Fred Patten, Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015, page 92:
glosses: An informal event where people brainstorm and collaborate on projects.
examples: text: Teaching is my jam.
glosses: That which one particularly prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about.
topics: ball-games
basketball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A forceful dunk.
examples: text: Toughie scored four points in that jam.
qualifier: roller derby
glosses: A play during which points can be scored.
examples: text: I used a whole series of fist and foot jams in that crack.
topics: climbing
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Any of several manoeuvres requiring wedging of an extremity into a tight space.
synonyms: raspberry jam tree
stinking acacia
glosses: The tree Acacia acuminata, with fruity-smelling hard timber.
examples: text: He's got more jam than Waitrose.
glosses: Luck hence jammy - lucky.
examples: text: I don't think he has the jam.
glosses: balls, bollocks, courage, machismo
glosses: Sexual relations or the contemplation of them.
examples: text: ’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.
ref: 1939 July 19, The Bulletin, Sydney, page 14, column 1:
glosses: Something enjoyable; a delightful situation or outcome.
Derived terms: sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: antijam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: game jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: in a jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam auction
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam band
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jambox
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam doughnut
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam drop
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jamful
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jamjar
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam jar
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam joint
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jamless
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jamlike
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam melon
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jammy
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam-packed
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam penny
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam pitch
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam pot
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam rag
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam rammed
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam roll
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam roly poly
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam sandwich
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam session
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam tart
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam today
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam tomorrow
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam-tree
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jam-up
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jamwich
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: jamwood
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: lob jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: log jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: money for jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: Murrumbidgee jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: paper jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: pearl jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: phantom jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: pole jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: power jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: ram-jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: real jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: slow jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: toe jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: traffic jam
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: want jam on it
sense: terms derived from jam (noun)
word: woodjam
sense: climbing terms
word: finger jam
sense: climbing terms
word: fist jam
sense: climbing terms
word: foot jam
sense: climbing terms
word: hand jam
sense: climbing terms
word: ice jam
sense: climbing terms
word: pinkie jam
sense: climbing terms
word: ring jam
sense: climbing terms
word: thumb-down jam
sense: climbing terms
word: toe jam
sense: climbing terms
word: who took the jam out of your doughnut
Related terms: jelly
marmalade