jam

noun17

1. •
   fruit cooked for a long time with plenty of sugar until it becomes firm, for eating on bread

   • He is allergic to jam.
   • She loves eating jam for breakfast in hotels.
2. •
   A blockage, congestion, or immobilization.

   • a jam of logs in a river
3. •
   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. — 1928
4. •
   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.
5. •
   An informal, impromptu performance or rehearsal.
6. •
   An informal event where people brainstorm and collaborate on projects.

   • We came up with some new ideas at the game jam.
7. •
   (slang) That which one particularly prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about.

   • Teaching is my jam.
8. •
   (slang) Something enjoyable; a delightful situation or outcome.
9. •
   (informal) A song; a track.

   • And a mix CD titled "Summer Jamz 2000." Jamz is spelled with a "z". — 2025
10. •
    A forceful dunk.
11. •
    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. •
    A play during which points can be scored.

    • Toughie scored four points in that jam.
13. •
    (UK, slang) Luck.

    • He's got more jam than Waitrose.
14. •
    (slang) Sexual relations or the contemplation of them.
15. •
    (Canada, slang) Balls, bollocks, courage, machismo.

    • I don't think he has the jam.
16. •
    (Australia) The tree Acacia acuminata, with fruity-smelling hard timber.
17. •
    (old-fashioned) A kind of frock for children.

verb15

1. •
   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.
2. •
   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.
3. •
   To render something unable to move.
4. •
   To cause congestion or blockage. Often used with "up".

   • A single accident can jam the roads for hours.
5. •
   To play music (especially improvisation as a group, or an informal unrehearsed session).
6. •
   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.
7. •
   To injure a finger or toe by sudden compression of the digit's tip.

   • When he tripped on the step he jammed his toe.
8. •
   (informal) To be of high quality (especially for music).

   • I love this song! This song jams!
9. •
   To add jam to; to cover with jam.

   • ‘Just look at me. All jammed and dripping in a public street.’ — 1936
10. •
    To turn (fruit) into jam.
11. •
    To throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands.

    • Jones was jammed by the pitch.
12. •
    To dunk.
13. •
    To attempt to score points.

    • Toughie jammed four times in the second period.
14. •
    (Canada, informal) To give up on a date or some other joint endeavour; to stand up, chicken out, jam out.
15. •
    To bring (a vessel) so close to the wind that half her upper sails are laid aback.

noun1

1. •
   (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. — 2016