Dictionary

jam

see also: JAM

Pronunciation

(RP, America) IPA: /ˈd͡ʒæm/
(æ-tensing) IPA: [ˈd͡ʒeəm]
(Southern England, Australia) IPA: /ˈdʒæːm/

Etymology 1

First attested in the early 18th c. as a verb meaning “to press, be pressed, be wedged in”. Compare dialectal jammock. Perhaps from Middle English chammen, champen , of uncertain origin; probably originally onomatopoeic.

Noun

jam

(less common in the US, &, Canada) A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts.
Synonyms: conserve, jelly, preserve
(countable) A difficult situation.
Synonyms: Thesaurus:difficult situation
1. (countable, baseball) A difficult situation for a pitcher or defending team.
  The pitcher's in a jam now, having walked the bases loaded with the cleanup hitter coming to bat.
(countable) A blockage, congestion, or immobilization.
Synonyms: jam-up
Hyponyms: paper jam, traffic jam
a jam on the 101 South, blocking the two right lanes [radio report]
a jam of logs in a river
(countable, popular music) An informal, impromptu performance or rehearsal.
(countable, by extension, informal) A song; a track.
(countable, by extension) An informal event where people brainstorm and collaborate on projects.
We came up with some new ideas at the game jam.
- 2017, Fred Patten, Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015, page 92:
  […] 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.
(countable, slang) That which one particularly prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about.
Teaching is my jam.
(countable, basketball) A forceful dunk.
(countable, roller derby) A play during which points can be scored.
Toughie scored four points in that jam.
(climbing, countable) Any of several maneuvers requiring wedging of an extremity into a tight space.
I used a whole series of fist and foot jams in that crack.
(AU) The tree Acacia acuminata, with fruity-smelling hard timber.
Synonyms: raspberry jam tree, stinking acacia
(UK, slang) Luck.
He's got more jam than Waitrose.
(Canada, slang) balls, bollocks, courage, machismo
I don't think he has the jam.
(slang) Sexual relations or the contemplation of them.

Translations

French: confiture, marmelade
German: Marmelade, Konfitüre
Italian: marmellata, confettura
Portuguese: geleia, compota
Russian: джем
Spanish: mermelada

Translations

French: embouteillage
German: Stau
Italian: ingorgo
Portuguese: congestionamento
Russian: загроможде́ние
Spanish: atasco

Translations

French: bœuf, jam
Italian: improvvisazione
Portuguese: jam session
Russian: джем-сейшен

Translations

French: pétrin
German: Patsche, Klemme
Italian: pasticcio, guaio
Portuguese: aperto
Russian: переплёт
Spanish: aprieto, brete

Verb

jam (jams, present participle jamming; simple past and past participle jammed)

To get something stuck, often (though not necessarily) in a confined space.
My foot got jammed in a gap between the rocks.
Her poor little baby toe got jammed in the door.
I jammed the top knuckle of my ring finger.
- 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 ↗:
  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 […]
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.
The rush-hour train was jammed with commuters.
- 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:
  Jamm’d in at midnight, in cold winter weather,
  The crouded passengers are glew’d together.
To render something unable to move.
To cause congestion or blockage. Often used with "up".
A single accident can jam the roads for hours.
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.
The airstrike suffered minimal casualties because electronic-warfare aircraft were jamming the enemy air-defense radars.
(baseball) To throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands.
Jones was jammed by the pitch.
(basketball) To dunk.
(music) To play music (especially improvisation as a group, or an informal unrehearsed session).
To injure a finger or toe by sudden compression of the digit's tip.
When he tripped on the step he jammed his toe.
(roller derby) To attempt to score points.
Toughie jammed four times in the second period.
(nautical, transitive) To bring (a vessel) so close to the wind that half her upper sails are laid aback.
(Canadian, informal) To give up on a date or some other joint endeavour; to stand up, chicken out, jam out.
(colloquial) To be of high quality.
I love this song! This song jams!