jam

noun

1. (countable, uncommon, uncountable)A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts

   “He is allergic to jam.”

   “She loves eating jam for breakfast in hotels.”

2. (countable)A difficult situation.

   “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.”

   “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”

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

3. (countable)A difficult situation.

   “The pitcher's in a jam now, having walked the bases loaded with the cleanup hitter coming to bat.”

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

   “a jam on the 101 South, blocking the two right lanes [radio report]”

   “a jam of logs in a river”

   “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.”

5. (common, countable)An informal, impromptu performance or rehearsal.
6. (broadly, countable, informal)A song; a track.

   “pump up the jam”

   “And a mix CD titled "Summer Jamz 2000." Jamz is spelled with a "z".”

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

7. (broadly, countable)An informal event where people brainstorm and collaborate on projects.

   “We came up with some new ideas at the game jam.”

   “[…] 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.”

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

   “Teaching is my jam.”

9. (countable)A forceful dunk.
10. (countable)A play during which points can be scored.

    “Toughie scored four points in that jam.”

11. (countable)Any of several manoeuvres requiring wedging of an extremity into a tight space.

    “I used a whole series of fist and foot jams in that crack.”

12. (Australia, countable, uncountable)The tree Acacia acuminata, with fruity-smelling hard timber.
13. (UK, countable, slang, uncountable)Luck.

    “He's got more jam than Waitrose.”

14. (Canada, countable, slang, uncountable)Balls, bollocks, courage, machismo.

    “I don't think he has the jam.”

15. (countable, slang, uncountable)Sexual relations or the contemplation of them.
16. (countable, slang, uncountable)Something enjoyable; a delightful situation or outcome.

    “’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.”

17. (dated)A kind of frock for children.
18. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of jamb.
19. (UK, informal)A household that is only barely able to meet its financial obligations.

    “Well, technically, a Jam is a working-class Brexit voter who feels alienated by the creeping march of globalisation.”

    “Although most of the income for JAM families comes from work, it is, in many cases, topped up by welfare support.”

verb

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.”

   “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.”

   “Jamm’d in at midnight, in cold winter weather,”

3. To render something unable to move.

   “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. To throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands.

   “Jones was jammed by the pitch.”

7. To dunk.
8. 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. To attempt to score points.

    “Toughie jammed four times in the second period.”

11. (transitive)To bring (a vessel) so close to the wind that half her upper sails are laid aback.

    “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 (especially for music).

    “I love this song! This song jams!”

name

1. (abbreviation, alt-of)Abbreviation of Jamaica.