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• ham
  ham

  noun

  a cut of meat from the heavy-muscled part of a hog's rear quarter, between hip and hock, usually cured.
• Ham
  Ham

  noun

  (in the Bible) the second son of Noah.
• HAM
  HAM

  adverb

  hard as a motherfucker: in an extremely high-energy manner; to an exceptional degree (a euphemistic acronym used as a description of intensity, without explicit vulgarity).

SEE ALSO:

Slang dictionary results for ham.

ham

¹ American  

[ham] / hæm /

noun

1. a cut of meat from the heavy-muscled part of a hog's rear quarter, between hip and hock, usually cured.

2. that part of a hog's hind leg.

3. the part of the leg back of the knee.

4. Often hams. the back of the thigh, or the thigh and the buttock together.

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ham ² American  

[ham] / hæm /

noun

1. an actor or performer who overacts.

2. an operator of an amateur radio station.

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verb (used with or without object)

• hams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hammed,
  past participle,  past
• hamming
  present participle

1. to act with exaggerated expression of emotion; overact.

idioms

1. ham it up, to overact; ham.

Ham ³ American  

[ham] / hæm /

noun

1. (in the Bible) the second son of Noah.

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HAM ⁴ American  

[ham] / hæm /

Or ham

adverb

Slang.

1. hard as a motherfucker: in an extremely high-energy manner; to an exceptional degree (a euphemistic acronym used as a description of intensity, without explicit vulgarity).

   Nothing can stop me from partying HAM this spring break!

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idioms

1. go HAM, to exhibit optimal energy or enthusiasm; to make a great effort.

   The team went HAM on the final play and mowed down the defense.

ham ¹ British  

/ hæm /

noun

1. informal theatre

   1. an actor who overacts or relies on stock gestures or mannerisms

   2. overacting or clumsy acting

   3. ( as modifier )

      a ham actor

2. informal

   1. a licensed amateur radio operator

   2. ( as modifier )

      a ham licence

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verb

1. informal to overact

ham ² British  

/ hæm /

noun

1. the part of the hindquarters of a pig or similar animal between the hock and the hip

2. the meat of this part, esp when salted or smoked

3. informal

   1. the back of the leg above the knee

   2. the space or area behind the knee

4. needlework a cushion used for moulding curves

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Ham Cultural  

1. One of the three sons of Noah. According to the biblical account, Noah and his family were the only human survivors of the great Flood and were therefore the progenitors of all the peoples on Earth.

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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.

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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

• hamming
  present
• hammed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ham
  simple
• hams
  simple
• have hammed
  perfect
• has hammed
  perfect
• am hamming
  progressive
• are hamming
  progressive
• is hamming
  progressive
• have been hamming
  perfect progressive
• has been hamming
  perfect progressive

Past

• hammed
  simple
• had hammed
  perfect
• was hamming
  progressive
• were hamming
  progressive
• had been hamming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ham
  simple
• will have hammed
  perfect
• will be hamming
  progressive
• will have been hamming
  perfect progressive

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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

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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

See Examples For:

ham Ham HAM hams hammed hamming

Servings of processed meats such as ham, sausages and chicken nuggets have been reduced to once a week and must come with a side of vegetables or fruit.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

We have the summer season passes and we just go ham.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Michelle Monaghan, always good, is also among the cast, as homicide detective Amanda Beck, though she lays low enough to duck all the free-floating ham in this adaptation of Alex North’s 2019 novel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

It was a strange little society of meats that belonged neither behind the butcher counter nor among the premium lunch meats — the thin-sliced turkey in its tidy package, the glossy hunk of honey ham.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

Sitting at the kitchen table, as if he ate there every day, was Coogie Jackson, digging into a plate of biscuits and ham gravy.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

When QPR visited West Ham in October, Pierce was the hero as he saved Jarrod Bowen's last-gasp penalty to deny the Hammers three points.

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026

Her 12 goals this season account for 44% of City's WSL strikes - but goals from Aoba Fujino and Iman Beney against West Ham suggest Jeglertz still has other options.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

He will take charge of the team for the first time on Wednesday when West Ham travel to Cardiff City in the Championship.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

Having posted losses of more than £104m, relegation meant West Ham had to sell players over the summer.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

His old poster of the West Ham football team was pinned right next to it.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

The HAM index correctly predicted whether individuals could walk outside for 10 minutes without stopping with accuracy of about 68%.

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

The network is divided into regions, where leaders sometimes hold training sessions on HAM radios, firearms or emergency first aid.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2021

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

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

Some processed hams may contain additives, preservatives and flavor-enhancers we should limit.

From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2024

Trimble: thickly muscled, with forearms like hams and a tattoo of a mermaid on one bicep.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

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

Now their AI capability, however obscure, is hammed up.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2024

Janie Dee hammed up “The Boy From …” a parody of “The Girl from Ipanema.”

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2022

Then, back to business: “I’m going to lead you through a little eighth-grade vocal warm-up,” Micciche hammed up the last phrase.

From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2021

Several sailors did imitations of Cockney boys begging for a treat as Marston hammed it up as an ice cream vendor.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Drummer Joel Amey punctures the pomposity during The Sofa - hamming up his accent as he sings about feeling "stuck in Seven Sisters, Norf Lahn-dan".

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

Was it necessary to have the head coach of the Warriors and a former Bulls shooting guard hamming it up on the party’s biggest night?

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2024

The 450-pound porker wandered from his pen last week then moseyed on down the road, where he was caught hamming it up on the Molgaard family’s security camera.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 2024

They put them on and dashed to the front of the stage, smiling and hamming it up for the finale: a class picture.

From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2023

They were sitting on the deck, staring at Percy, but when he glared at them pointedly, they started hamming it up again, trembling and flopping around like fish.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

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