Definition of HAM

: a cut of meat consisting of a thigh

especially : one from a hog

: a cushion used especially by tailors for pressing curved areas of garments

Noun (1)

We're having ham for dinner. He was once a fine actor, but now he's just an old ham. Cameras bring out the ham in her.

Recent Examples on the Web

Sweet potatoes, cannellini beans, and ham make this creamy concoction a cozy dinnertime favorite. —Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Mar. 2025 Like that movie, Mickey 17 also features an over-the-top villain that allows an actor license to ham, and counts a real-life political figure as its inspiration. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2025

Episode writer Zachary Reiter knows exactly how to ham up the calm before the storm, warming us up with sentimental moments (like a mother preparing her son for his first date) and frisky foreshadowing (of course there’s a couple getting it on in the bathroom). —Laura Bradley, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2024 In honor of the Games’ host country this year, the star opted for a vintage, Parisian cabaret-style performance, hamming up her movements with every opportunity. —Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 26 July 2024 See All Example Sentences for ham

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English hamme, homme "back of the knee, hock of a quadruped," going back to Old English hamm, homm (strong feminine) "back of the knee," going back to Germanic *hammō-, *hamō- (whence also Middle Dutch hamme "back of the knee, shank," Old High German hamma, hama (feminine weak noun) "hollow of the knee, calf, hock," hammo (masculine weak noun) "hock," Old Norse hǫm "back of the leg, haunch (of a horse)," going back to an Indo-European ablauting paradigm *konh₂-m-, *kn̥h₂-m-os, whence also Old Irish cnáim "bone," Greek knḗmē "shank, tibia"); (sense 3) probably short for hamfatter

Note: The presumption is that the Germanic etymon is a generalization of the nominative form, while the Celtic and Greek etyma maintained the oblique form. The geminate -mm- in the Germanic words is most likely a reduction of *-nm-; G. Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Brill, 2013) explains the variation between single and double -m- as "analogical degemination [loss of gemination] in the nominative case of an n-stem paradigm."

Verb

derivative of ham entry 1 (sense 3)

Noun (2)

Hebrew

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1933, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun (2)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of ham was before the 12th century