jam
(dʒæm )
Word forms: jams , jamming , jammed
1. variable noun A2 regional note: in AM, usually use jelly
Jam is a thick sweet food that is made by cooking fruit with a large amount of sugar, and that is usually spread on bread. [mainly British]
...home-made jam.
2. verb
If you jam something somewhere, you push or put it there roughly.
He picked his cap up off the ground and jammed it on his head. [VERB noun preposition]
Pete jammed his hands into his pockets. [VERB noun preposition]
Synonyms: pack, force, press, stuff
3. verb [Also V n adj]
If something such as a part of a machine jams, or if something jams it, the part becomes fixed in position and is unable to move freely or work properly.
The second time he fired his gun jammed. [VERB]
A rope jammed the boat's propeller. [VERB noun]
Cracks appeared in the wall and a door jammed shut. [VERB adjective]
The intake valve was jammed open. [be VERB-ed]
Every few minutes the motor cut out as the machinery became jammed. [VERB-ed]
4. verb B2
If vehicles jam a road, there are so many of them that they cannot move.
Hundreds of departing motorists jammed the roads. [VERB noun]
Jam is also a noun.
Trucks sat in a jam for ten hours waiting to cross the bridge. [+ for]
jammed adjective
Nearby roads and the dirt track to the beach were jammed with cars. [+ with]
5. verb
If a lot of people jam a place, or jam into a place, they are pressed tightly together so that they can hardly move.
Hundreds of people jammed the boardwalk to watch. [VERB noun]
They jammed into buses provided by the Red Cross and headed for safety. [VERB + into]
jammed adjective
The stadium was jammed and they had to turn away hundreds of disappointed fans.
6. verb
To jam a radio or electronic signal means to interfere with it and prevent it from being received or heard clearly.
They will try to jam the transmissions electronically. [VERB noun]
jamming uncountable noun
The plane is used for electronic jamming and radar detection.
7. verb
If callers are jamming phone lines, there are so many callers that the people answering the phones find it difficult to deal with them all.
Hundreds of callers jammed the BBC switchboard for more than an hour. [VERB noun]
The telephone exchange has been jammed all day with people wanting to buy season tickets. [VERB-ed]
8. singular noun [in NOUN]
If someone is in a jam, they are in a very difficult situation. [informal]
They were in a real jam, Bob thought glumly.
9. verb
When jazz or rock musicians are jamming, they are informally playing music that has not been written down or planned in advance. [informal]
He was jamming with his saxophone. [VERB]
Jam is also a noun.
...a free-form jazz jam.
...a jam session.
10. See also traffic jam
Image of jam
© Alter-ego, Shutterstock
Quotations:
The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam todayAlice Through the Looking Glass
Idioms:
jam tomorrow [mainly British]
said to mean that people are being promised that they will have something in the future, although they cannot have it now
The City simply does not believe it. It has been promised jam tomorrow too many times before by the company.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Collocations:
fruit jam jam a door jam a signal jam a street jam together strawberry jam
They are currently available with both dark chocolate and milk chocolate coatings, and with several flavors of artificial fruit jam filling inside the marshmallow-like filling.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Sometimes raspberry, strawberry, blackberry or mixed fruit jam, marmalade or other sweet preserves will be spread upon the bread, along with the butter.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
As a breakfast item they are often eaten with butter and a sweet condiment such as molasses, light sugarcane syrup, maple syrup, sorghum syrup, honey, or fruit jam or jelly.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
They are not imitation fruit jam.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Purple tayberries can be a touch sharp but work well in summer pudding or fruit jams.
Times, Sunday Times
He told me to jam the door.
Times, Sunday Times
They can also become porous and absorbed water can freeze and jam the doors shut.
Times, Sunday Times
He tries to abandon ship, but the failure of the auto-systems has jammed the doors.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Thieves have worked out a way to jam the signal, using simple, off-the-shelf equipment that broadcasts on the same frequency as the fob.
Times, Sunday Times
A jamming signal only has a finite amount of power available to jam the signal.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The challenge was to prevent the enemy jamming the signal sent by the ship or plane controlling it.
Times, Sunday Times
It features calypso shows, beauty pageants, late night liming and street jam sessions.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Thousands of political activists jammed the streets, demanding quick action by the legislators.
Times, Sunday Times
Aid trucks and army patrols jammed the streets.
Times, Sunday Times
We go into a studio and jam together.
The Sun
You have options of a duelling mode or a co-op game allowing you to jam together.
The Sun
And the pair would often jam together.
The Sun
Plug in two of the guitars and you can jam together.
The Sun
The band also began to jam together, something which they had not previously done, only for fun.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
To assemble, sandwich the whole rounds and heart cut-out rounds together with strawberry jam.
The Sun
I usually have orange juice and a couple of croissants, pain au chocolat, or toast and strawberry jam.
Times, Sunday Times
Those skills enabled him to swap a consignment of strawberry jam for a cargo of tractors, which eventually paid for a ship.
Times, Sunday Times
He explained the condiments that filled three sparkling silver pots: sweet lemon curd, some bitter marmalade and chunky strawberry jam, all delicious.
Times, Sunday Times
For the filling: 100g softened butter, 120g icing sugar (sifted), 340g jar of strawberry jam.
The Sun
Translations:
Chinese: 果酱
Japanese: ジャム