ham
noun
a cut of meat from the heavy-muscled part of a hog's rear quarter, between hip and hock, usually cured.
ham
1 American
[ham]
/ hæm /
noun
-
a cut of meat from the heavy-muscled part of a hog's rear quarter, between hip and hock, usually cured.
-
that part of a hog's hind leg.
-
the part of the leg back of the knee.
-
Often hams. the back of the thigh, or the thigh and the buttock together.
ham
2
American
[ham]
/ hæm /
noun
-
an actor or performer who overacts.
-
an operator of an amateur radio station.
verb (used with or without object)
-
hams,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hammed,
past participle, past
-
hamming
present participle
idioms
Ham
3
American
[ham]
/ hæm /
noun
HAM
4
American
[ham]
/ hæm /
Or
ham
adverb
Slang.
idioms
ham
1
British
/ hæm /
noun
-
informal theatre
-
an actor who overacts or relies on stock gestures or mannerisms
-
overacting or clumsy acting
-
( as modifier )
a ham actor
-
-
informal
-
a licensed amateur radio operator
-
( as modifier )
a ham licence
-
verb
ham
2
British
/ hæm /
noun
-
the part of the hindquarters of a pig or similar animal between the hock and the hip
-
the meat of this part, esp when salted or smoked
-
informal
-
the back of the leg above the knee
-
the space or area behind the knee
-
-
needlework a cushion used for moulding curves
Ham
Cultural
Usage
What else does ham mean? To go ham is to put in an extraordinary, even aggressive, amount of effort. If you went crazy eating ham, you'd be going ham on some ham. In this sense, ham may stand for hard as a motherf****r.
Discover More
The “curse of Ham” refers to the biblical story in which Ham, seeing his father drunk and naked, refused to turn away as his two brothers did. When Noah awoke, he cursed Ham and his son Canaan, supposedly causing a darker pigmentation in their descendants. This so-called curse has often been wrongly used to justify racism.
Egypt (see also Egypt) was traditionally called “the Land of Ham,” and Ham was considered to be the ancestor of the Egyptians and of all African peoples south of Egypt.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hamsimple
-
hamssimple
-
have hammedperfect
-
has hammedperfect
-
am hammingprogressive
-
are hammingprogressive
-
is hammingprogressive
-
have been hammingperfect progressive
-
has been hammingperfect progressive
Past
-
hammedsimple
-
had hammedperfect
-
was hammingprogressive
-
were hammingprogressive
-
had been hammingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ham1
before 1000; Middle English hamme, Old English hamm bend of the knee; cognate with Middle Dutch, Middle Low German hamme, Old High German hamma; akin to Old Norse hǫm buttock; perhaps akin to Greek knḗmē shin, Old Irish cnáim bone
Origin of ham2
First recorded in 1880–85; short for hamfatter, after The Hamfat Man, a Black minstrel song celebrating an awkward man
Origin of HAM4
From its use in digital communications
Explanation
Ham is a type of pork, or meat that comes from a pig. If you order a ham sandwich at a deli, you'll get a pile of thinly-sliced meat between two slices of bread. Most ham is preserved in some way, either smoked or salted, and traditionally this meat comes from a hog's hind legs. For many people who celebrate Easter, ham is a typical main dish. Ham, defined in the 1630s as "meat from the hind leg of a pig," comes from the Old English hamm, "hollow or bend of the knee." If you're a performer described as a ham, it means your acting is way too theatrical or exaggerated.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We have the summer season passes and we just go ham.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Albie-Junior Thomas finished the Three Peaks Challenge in 22 hours and 30 minutes alongside his dad, powered by ham and cheese sandwiches, sour sweets and four months' training.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Within weeks Masino pulled a U-turn, dumping the new logo, dropping the marketing firm behind it and pausing restaurant remodels, bringing back proven sellers like campfire meals and ham dinners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Grab a pineapple bun stuffed with ham and butter, a corned beef egg tart, a sourdough one, even pistachio.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
After the ham, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, biscuits, green beans swimming in butter, and sweet tea, Mama and Aunt Lena cleared the table and brought out the pies.
From "Finding Langston" by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Carroll, who also played in the Premier League for Liverpool and West Ham, called the police and was "sobbing" in the arms of his children's nanny.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
After Tonali, £85m went on bringing in Mateus Fernandes from West Ham.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
After playing for youth academies such as Arsenal, West Ham United and Chelsea, Gabriel signed with Manchester United at age 11.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Miklosko won promotion to the old First Division with West Ham in 1990-91, his first full season with the club.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Naturally, the first thing Mr. Ham says is “Please open your textbooks to page thirty.”
From "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer L. Holm
"This gives us confidence that the HAM Index can truly predict who is a healthy ager versus a rapid ager."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2024
Choirul Anam on Indonesia's human rights body, Komnas HAM, said on Monday that if tear gas hadn't been fired "maybe there wouldn't have been chaos."
From Reuters ● Oct. 4, 2022
“If you say anything bad about Long Beach in front of me I’ll go HAM, even if it’s true. I haven’t felt that energy in other parts of L.A.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
If they wanna go HAM on the gifts, might as well try to make something useful come out if it!
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2019
He wore bright blue orthopedic sandals, a faded Bob Marley T-shirt, and a white baseball hat that said, HAM, BACON, SAUSAGE.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Olives, hams and sausages, tinned seafood, fresh loaves, classic Spanish cheeses.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
ChatGPT said she’d need to make two turkeys, two hams and six pies to feed all those guests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025
Of course there were blankets, water bottles, clothing, masks and hygiene products, but also grab-and-go salads, squeezable snacks for kids, candy, crates of fresh vegetables, protein and grain bars, even honey-baked hams and queen-sized mattresses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2025
There is a pleasing calm to her delivery that stands out in a scene of fidgety hams.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2024
A torrent of fresh fruit, baked goods, and smoked hams completely buried Hercules.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
The last part was hammed up a bit; lacking a controlling stake doesn’t automatically equate to no influence on decisions.
From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2024
She was usually buoyant and effusive, but this time she really hammed it up, hugging and kissing the case of Propel Fitness Water he’d brought home from the store.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2024
Now their AI capability, however obscure, is hammed up.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2024
“He landed funny on his knee and hammed his hip, and we were really worried about it,” Carroll said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
Slopper hammed it up a bit, trying to mimic and trying to pretend that wasn’t the case.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
Equally, you might not have believed her for a second, and thought she was hamming up her pain because it's all gone wrong.
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
Was he hamming it up for the cameras?
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2024
During the six-week campaign, both Hipkins and Luxon have been hamming it up for the cameras, from scooping out ice cream to making pizzas.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
More than that, he seems to relish it, hamming it up as the babies reach out to touch him.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2023
“And the ladies,” I say, hamming it up even more.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.