US /ˈhæm/
noun verb Freq #4476

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    Meat from the leg of a pig, prepared so it can be kept and eaten.

    I made a ham sandwich for lunch.

  2. 2
    noun

    An actor who performs in an exaggerated, showy way.

    He's a real ham who loves being the centre of attention.

  3. 3
    verb

    To act in an exaggerated, overly dramatic way.

    The children hammed it up for the camera.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · meat from the leg of a pig,... gammon
2 noun · an actor who performs in an... ham actoroveractor
3 verb · to act in an exaggerated,... ham it upoveractoverplay
Word family
Forms hammedhamminghams
Derived forms burgerbutter-hamham-and-eggerham-fistedham-fistedlyham-handedham-handedlyham-handednessham-sandwichhambeasthambonehamese

Etymology

* As an English and German surname, variant of Hamm. * As a Dutch surname, from the noun ham (“bend in a river”). Compare Van Ham, Vanderham. * As a French surname, from several placenames, from the Frankish source of the Dutch word above. * As a Serbo-Croatian, Slovak and Hungarian surname (Hám), from the noun hám (“harness”), and sometimes from the German sense above. * As a Slovene surname, possibly from the "harness" or German senses above, or from ham (“grab, bite”). * As a Czech surname, shortened from Abraham. * As a Korean surname, from the name 함 (ham) (more at Ham). Compare Hahm. * A…

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Topics

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