jam

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒæm/
• (Southern England, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒæːm/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

  (fruit spread)

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

  (verb)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æm
• Homophone: jamb

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.

jam (countable and uncountable, plural jams)

1. (less common in the US) A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts.

   Synonyms: (US) conserve, jelly, preserve

2. (countable) A difficult situation.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:difficult situation

   • 1928, Upton Sinclair, Boston:

     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.

   • 1975, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Tangled Up in Blue”:

     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

   • 1977, David Byrne (lyrics and music), “Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town”, in Talking Heads: 77, performed by Talking Heads:

     Where, where is my common sense? / How did I get in a jam like this?

   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.

3. (countable) A blockage, congestion, or immobilization.

   Synonym: 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

   • 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 2 July 2022, page 12:

     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.

4. (countable, popular music) An informal, impromptu performance or rehearsal.
5. (countable, by extension, informal) A song; a track.
   • 2001, Jet, volume 100, number 22, page 25:

     The result is an outstanding assortment of sophisticated, sexy and hip-hop-tinged R&B grooves, ballads and party jams.

6. (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.

7. (countable, slang) That which one particularly prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about.

   Teaching is my jam.

8. (countable, basketball) A forceful dunk.
9. (countable, roller derby) A play during which points can be scored.

   Toughie scored four points in that jam.

10. (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.

11. (Australia) The tree Acacia acuminata, with fruity-smelling hard timber.

    Synonyms: raspberry jam tree, stinking acacia

12. (UK, slang) Luck.

    He's got more jam than Waitrose.

13. (Canada, slang) balls, bollocks, courage, machismo

    I don't think he has the jam.

14. (slang) Sexual relations or the contemplation of them.

• → Czech: džem
• → Dutch: jam
• → Estonian: džemm
• → Japanese: ジャム (jamu)
• → Korean: 잼 (jaem)
• → Polish: dżem
• → Russian: джем (džem)
• → Serbo-Croatian: džȅm, џе̏м
• → Slovak: džem
• → Ukrainian: джем (džem)

• jelly
• marmalade

jam (third-person singular simple present jams, present participle jamming, simple past and past participle jammed)

1. 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 […]

2. 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.

3. To render something unable to move.
   • 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 2 July 2022, page 56:

     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).

4. To cause congestion or blockage. Often used with "up".

   A single accident can jam the roads for hours.

5. 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.

6. (baseball) To throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands.

   Jones was jammed by the pitch.

7. (basketball) To dunk.
8. (music) To play music (especially improvisation as a group, or an informal unrehearsed session).
9. To injure a finger or toe by sudden compression of the digit's tip.

   When he tripped on the step he jammed his toe.

10. (roller derby) To attempt to score points.

    Toughie jammed four times in the second period.

11. (nautical, transitive) To bring (a vessel) so close to the wind that half her upper sails are laid aback.
    • (Can we date this quote?), William Clark Russell, The Golden Hope:

      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 ----"

12. (Canada, informal) To give up on a date or some other joint endeavour; to stand up, chicken out, jam out.
13. (colloquial) To be of high quality.

    I love this song! This song jams!

• ram

Persian or Hindi, meaning "garment, robe;" see جامه (“garment”). Related to pajamas.

jam (plural jams)

1. (dated) A kind of frock for children.

jam (plural jams)

1. (mining) Alternative form of jamb

• jam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “jam”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “jam”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• Ram-jam

• JMA, Maj, Maj., maj, maj.

• jom — Kosovo

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi (“to be, exist”).[1][2][3][4][5] The forms in qe- may derive from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to turn, revolve”),[4] whence also Ancient Greek πέλω (pélō, “to be”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈjam/
• Rhymes: -am

jam (aorist qeshë, participle qenë)

1. to be
   1. Indicates a quality or identity.

      Është e bukur. ― She is beautiful.

      Si je? ― How are you?

      S'është për ty. ― It is not for you.

   2. Indicates location.

      Synonym: gjendem

      Jam në shtëpi. ― I am at home.

      Janë jeshta. ― They are out.

      Ku je? ― Where are you?

   3. (intransitive) to live, stay alive

      Synonyms: rroj, jetoj, gjëllij

   4. to be from, come from [+ nga (object)]

      Synonyms: vij, rrjedh

      Jemi nga Shqipëria. ― We are from Albania.

      Nga je? ― Where are you from?

   5. to support, agree with [+ me (object)]

      Synonyms: pajtohem, përkrah

      Jam me ty. ― I agree with you.

   6. (third person) to happen, take place, occur

      Synonyms: ndodh, ngjan, bëhet

   7. (third person) there be

      Synonym: ka

      Janë mjaft. ― There are enough.

   8. Followed by gerunds, forms the present continuous.

      Isha duke lexuar. ― I was reading.

• “jam”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎ (in Albanian), 1980, pages 734–735

From Malay jam, from Sanskrit याम (yāma).

jam

1. hour
2. time

• Baba Malay Dictionary

From English jam.

jam

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to jam (to play music)

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

jam

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) to nab; to take without asking

• 占 (zim1, zem1, “jam”)

Borrowed from Portuguese inhame or Spanish iñame, both likely of West African origin.

jam m inan

1. yam (any Dioscorea vine)

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Borrowed from English jam.

• IPA^(key): /ʒɛm/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: jam
• Rhymes: -ɛm

jam m (plural jams, diminutive jammetje n)

1. (chiefly Netherlands) jam (congealed sweet mixture of conserved fruits)

• confituur
• marmelade

• aardbeienjam
• jampot
• kersenjam

• → Caribbean Javanese: sèm

Borrowed from Latin iam.

• IPA^(key): [jam]
• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: jam

jam

1. already, prior to some time

   Ŝi jam nutris la bestojn. ― She already fed the animals.

jam o

1. (Pulaar, Maasina) peace

• M. Niang, Pulaar-English English-Pulaar Standard Dictionary, New York: Hippocrene Books, 1997.
• Richard Smith, Urs Niggli, Dictionnaire fulfulde - anglais - français, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2016.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

jam

1. granary, storehouse

jam

1. lime

• Elson, Benjamin F., Gutiérrez G., Donaciano (1999) Diccionario popoluca de la Sierra, Veracruz (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 41)‎ (in Spanish), Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., →ISBN, page 74

From Sanskrit याम (yāma, “time”).

• IPA^(key): [d͡ʒam]
• Hyphenation: jam

jam

1. hour (Time period of sixty minutes)
2. clock (instrument to measure or keep track of time)
3. time

• djam (pre-1947, 1947-1972)

From Malay jam, from Sanskrit याम (yāma, “time”).

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒam/, [ˈd͡ʒam]
• Hyphenation: jam

jam (first-person possessive jamku, second-person possessive jammu, third-person possessive jamnya)

1. hour (Time period of sixty minutes)
2. clock (instrument to measure or keep track of time)
3. (colloquial) time, particular moment or hour; the appropriate moment or hour for something

   Synonyms: pukul, saat, waktu

• “jam” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

jam (not comparable)

1. already

jam

1. Romanization of ꦗꦩ꧀

• IPA^(key): /ˈjam/
• Hyphenation: jam

jam

1. dative singular of jis

   Es jam atsaceju par reizi. ― I replied to him right away.

   Jam daguoja laistīs paceli nu sātys. ― He had to leave his home.

   Vys jam nazkas natai. ― He's never satisfied. (literally, “It's never good enough for him.”)

• Nicole Nau (2011) A short grammar of Latgalian, München: LINCOM GmbH, →ISBN, page 37

jam (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of iam

• “jam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

jam

1. time
2. hour
3. clock

jam m

1. third-person singular dative of jis
   • 2007, Jurga (Jurga Šeduikytė), Angelai

     Jo balti sparnai man tinka
     Jam savo šarvus dovanoju

     His white wings suit me
     I present to him my armor

From Sanskrit याम (yāma, “time”).

• IPA^(key): [d͡ʒam]
• Rhymes: -d͡ʒam, -am

• Audio (MY)

  (file)

jam (Jawi spelling جم, plural jam-jam, informal 1st possessive jamku, 2nd possessive jammu, 3rd possessive jamnya)

1. hour (Time period of sixty minutes)
2. clock (instrument to measure or keep track of time)

• Baba Malay: jam
• Indonesian: jam
• → Iban: jam
• → Javanese: ꦗꦩ꧀ (jam)
• → Pattani Malay: جٍي / แยฺ (jɛ)

• “jam” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

From Old Frisian jī. Cognate with West Frisian jimme.

jam

1. you (plural)
2. your (plural)

• IPA^(key): /jam/
• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: jam

jam f

1. genitive plural of jama

jam

1. (informal, sometimes proscribed) Combined form of ja + -m

• jam in Polish dictionaries at PWN

jam

1. genitive dual/plural of jama

jam m (plural jams or jam)

1. jam (music session)

• IPA^(key): /jɑːm/

jam n

1. meow (sound of a cat)

   Synonym: (more common) mjau

• jama

• Maj, maj

From Arabic جَمْع (jamʕ). Compare Turkish cem.

jam (comparative jamroq, superlative eng jam)

1. addition, plus, total

• jamlamoq

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒám/

jam

1. metal water pot

From English jam.

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒam/

jam m (plural jamiau, not mutable)

1. jam

   Synonym: cyffaith

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “jam”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

jam c (plural jams)

1. jam, fruit preserves

• sjem

• “jam (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011