jamnoun
uk/dʒæm/us/dʒæm/jam noun (FOOD)
A2 [ C or U ] a sweet, soft food made by cooking fruit with sugar to preserve it. It is eaten on bread:
More examples
- She won first prize for her raspberry jam at the Mitchell county fair.
- Gooseberries are used for making pies and jam.
- We were served scones with butter and jam.
- The recipe uses a whole jarful of jam.
- She has toast with raspberry jam for breakfast.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Jams & spreads
- conserve
- filling
- golden syrup
- honey
- jammy
- jelly
- lemon butter
- lemon curd
- manuka honey
- marmalade
- paste
- peanut butter
- preserve
- spread
jam noun (ON A ROAD)
B2 [ C ] → traffic jam :
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
On the road: traffic jams
- back
- back up
- backed up
- bottleneck
- bumper
- bumper to bumper idiom
- congested
- gridlock
- rasta roko
- rush hour
- snarled up
- sock
- sock sth/sb in (with sb)
- tail
- tail back
- tailback
- traffic
- traffic calming
- traffic jam
jam noun (BLOCK)
C1 [ C ] something that is stuck in a machine, or that prevents the parts of a machine from moving:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Closing and blocking
- barricade
- batten
- batten down the hatches idiom
- block sth off
- block sth up
- cork
- dam
- dam sth up
- dark
- ensconce
- ensconced
- gum
- gum sth up
- seal
- shut (sth) off
- shut sb/sth out
- shutter
- silt (sth) up
- snap
- the darkest hour is just before the dawn idiom
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jam noun (DIFFICULT SITUATION)
[ S ] informal a difficult situation:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Difficult situations and unpleasant experiences
- a (heavy) cross to bear idiom
- a cloud on the horizon idiom
- a fate worse than death idiom
- a hard/tough row to hoe idiom
- a narrow squeak idiom
- bind
- crunch
- curse
- eventuality
- fate
- feeding frenzy
- genie
- going
- have a bumpy ride idiom
- rum
- schtuck
- shtook
- stalemate
- standoff
- vortex
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jam noun (NO SPACE)
[ S ] a situation in which a lot of people are in a small space:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Full
- alive
- alive with sth idiom
- awash
- be a rich seam to mine idiom
- be riddled with sth idiom
- bristle
- burst
- congested
- cramped
- crowded
- heaping
- heaving
- heavy with sth idiom
- ridden
- riddled
- rife
- sardine
- saturate
- saturation point
- seam
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Idiom(s)
jamverb
uk/dʒæm/us/dʒæm/-mm-jam verb (STICK)
C1 [ I or T ] to be, or make something, unable to move:
[ T ] to stop radio signals from reaching the people who want to receive them:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Immobility
- be locked in sth
- boxed in
- budge
- catatonic
- firm
- glue
- grind to a halt/standstill idiom
- hold
- immovable
- jammed
- lock
- motionless
- move
- not move a muscle idiom
- rest
- rock-solid
- static
- time stands still idiom
- transfix
- unwavering
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
jam verb (MUSIC)
[ I ] to play jazz or rock music with other people informally without planning it or practising together
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Playing music
- accompaniment
- accompany
- busk
- conduct
- fiddle
- fingering
- improvisation
- interpreter
- music
- perform
- raise the roof idiom
- serenade
- sight-read
- strike
- strum
- swell
- tap
- tap sth out
- tune
- virtuoso
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jam verb (PUSH)
[ T + adv/prep ] to push something forcefully or with difficulty into something else:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Inserting and forcing things into other things
- cram
- dig
- dig (sth) into sb/sth
- embed
- embedded
- imbed
- in
- insert
- inset
- interlace
- interpolate
- interpose
- intersperse
- interspersed
- let
- let sth into sth
- squash
- stick
- thread
- wedge
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jam verb (FILL)
C1 [ T + adv/prep ] to fill a place completely:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Filling and completing
- brick
- brick up sth
- brim
- crowd
- crowd sb/sth out
- fill
- filling
- occupancy
- occupy
- overcrowded
- overran
- overrun
- plug
- round
- suffuse
- supersaturated
- tank
- tank up
- top sb up
- top sth up
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics: