(jams, jamming, jammed)
1.
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 BRIT; in AM, usually use jelly
)
...home-made jam.
N-MASS
2.
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...
Pete jammed his hands into his pockets.
VERB: V n prep, V n prep
3.
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...
A rope jammed the boat's propeller...
Cracks appeared in the wall and a door jammed shut...
The intake valve was jammed open...
Every few minutes the motor cut out as the machinery became jammed.
VERB: V, V n, V adj, be V-ed adj, V-ed, also V n adj
4.
If vehicles jam a road, there are so many of them that they cannot move.
Hundreds of departing motorists jammed the roads.
VERB: V n
•
Jam is also a noun.
Trucks sat in a jam for ten hours waiting to cross the bridge.
N-COUNT
• jammed
Nearby roads and the dirt track to the beach were jammed with cars.
ADJ: oft ADJ with n
5.
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...
They jammed into buses provided by the Red Cross and headed for safety.
= cram
VERB: V n, V into n
• jammed
The stadium was jammed and they had to turn away hundreds of disappointed fans.
= packed
ADJ
6.
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: V n
• jamming
The plane is used for electronic jamming and radar detection.
N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp
7.
If callers are jamming telephone lines, there are so many callers that the people answering the telephones find it difficult to deal with them all.
Hundreds of callers jammed the BBC switchboard for more than an hour...
VERB: V n
8.
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: V
•
Jam is also a noun.
...a jam session.
N-COUNT
9.