jam

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“
There was no explicit support for radical group Hamas, though a small group of demonstrators made a shout using a pun with the Spanish word jamás ( "never"), whose pronunciation is nearly identical to "Hamas".

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Definitions (55)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (18)

  1. transitive verb To drive or wedge forcibly into a tight position: jammed the cork in the bottle.
  2. transitive verb To activate or apply (a brake) suddenly. Often used with on: jammed the brakes on.
  3. transitive verb To cause (moving parts, for example) to lock into an unworkable position: jammed the typewriter keys.
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Examples (50)

  • "With Doc Savage on the prowl, and our chief in a jam, things are too hot here What kind of a jam is the chief in?" —  037 - The Metal Master
  • The fruit was most excellent; its condition could not have been better, and everything used in the manufacture of the jam was all that we could desire. —  The Life of Sir William Hartley, ebook, etext
  • There was no explicit support for radical group Hamas, though a small group of demonstrators made a shout using a pun with the Spanish word jamás ( "never"), whose pronunciation is nearly identical to "Hamas". —  www.blogalaxia.com Directorio y Buscador de Blogs Latinos
  • Speaking of the jam, the centers will sink after the jam is added, but it's important to keep the jam from sliding off. —  Sass & Veracity
  • Each friend bears some small package--a pot of cranberry jam, a basket of apples or cherries, a bag of cakes, or something of that kind. —  Peeps at Many Lands: Norway
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

jelly ·  butter ·  pie ·  sauce ·  syrup ·  biscuit ·  marmalade ·  honey ·  cake ·  coffee ·  tomato ·  chocolate

Used in the same contextWord Family

jam:   jamming ·  jams ·  jammed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (8)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Origin unknown.
  2. Possibly from jam1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (6)

  1. Formerly jamb; of dial. origin; prob. another form (sonant j from surd ch; cf. jaw, jowl) of cham, chew or champ, being the same as champ, chew or bite, also tread heavily: see champ.
  2. from jam, v.
  3. Origin uncertain; there is not sufficient evidence to connect it with jam, press, squeeze (cf. dial. jammock, a soft pulpy substance, also beat, squeeze), or with Arabic jāmid, congealed, concrete, motionless, jamd (Persian), congelation, concretion, from jamada, thicken, freeze, congeal (cf. jelly). Cf. rob, a conserve of fruit, also of Arabic origin.
  4. jam, n.
  5. Sindhi jām.
  6. Hindustani Persian jāmah, jāma, a gown, a robe. Cf. pajamas.
 

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/dʒɑm/
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