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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.

---

ham ² American  

[ham] / hæm /

noun

1. an actor or performer who overacts.

2. 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

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

---

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.

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

• 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

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

See Examples For:

ham Ham HAM hams hammed hamming

"Guys would climb the pole, win the ham and then share it out among the town," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

"It would be like smoked ham," he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

While popular variations use turkey, roast beef, pastrami and other deli meats, the original version on offer at the 99-year-old Town Hall Delicatessen is still made with ham and beef tongue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Skip processed meats such as bacon, ham, or sausages.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 21, 2026

Her very special marinated goose, smoked turkey, and honey-glazed ham and all the trimmings made the base of a meal that everybody contributed to.

From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals

A goalkeeper having the movement of his arm restricted - see Arsenal's David Raya against West Ham - would still be penalised.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

West Ham have sold Mateus Fernandes to Tottenham for £85m and Crysencio Summerville for £60m this summer, but captain Jarrod Bowen has signed a new contract.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Belgium midfielder Arne Engels is having a medical pending a transfer to West Ham United, Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has confirmed.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

But West Ham raced to a 5-0 half‑time lead, with Alvin Martin, Trevor Brooking and Tony Cottee tearing Bury apart.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Ham Knapp took the seat next to him.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

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

Most supermarket hams are already fully cooked, which means your job isn’t to roast so much as to gild the lily.

From Salon ● Apr. 18, 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

Union leaders are lining up donations of turkeys and hams in hopes of meeting demand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2023

We can have both the chitlins and the hams.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

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

We don’t know if Nguyễn Phú Trọng, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, was briefed on the age discussion in advance, but he really hammed it up for the press.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2023

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

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2022

In the ring Woody’s smile looked sly and crafty; he hammed it up.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

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

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

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

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