jam
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Informal terms for a difficult situation.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
jamIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdʒæm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Informal terms for a difficult situation
countablebaseball
A difficult situation for a pitcher or defending team.
less common in the US
A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts
countable
A blockage, congestion, or immobilization.
countableby extension
An informal event where people brainstorm and collaborate on projects.
Australia
The tree Acacia acuminata, with fruity-smelling hard timber.
verb
Get stuck and immobilized
To get something stuck, often (though not necessarily) in a confined space.
To brusquely force something into a space; to cram, to squeeze.
To cause congestion or blockage. Often used with "up".
To block or confuse a radio or radar signal by transmitting a more-powerful signal on the same frequency.
canadainformal
To give up on a date or some other joint endeavour; to stand up, chicken out, jam out.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Informal terms for a difficult situation
Used this way, jam is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Jam a broad spectrum of frequencies to affect all communications in the area except for directional antenna communications.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: informal terms for a difficult situation
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.