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• ram
  ram

  noun

  a male sheep.
• RAM
  RAM

  noun

  random-access memory; computer memory available to the user for creating, loading, or running programs and for the temporary storage and manipulation of data, in which time of access to each item is independent of the storage sequence. As a storage medium, RAM is volatile, so its contents are lost when the power fails or is turned off.
• R.A.M.
  R.A.M.

  abbreviation

  Royal Academy of Music.
• r.a.m.
  r.a.m.

  abbreviation

  relative atomic mass
• Ram
  Ram

  noun

  the constellation Aries, the first sign of the zodiac

ram

¹ American  

[ram] / ræm /

noun

1. a male sheep.

2. Astronomy, Astrology. Aries, the constellation or sign of Aries.

3. any of various devices for battering, crushing, driving, or forcing something, especially a battering ram.

4. (formerly) a heavy beak or spur projecting from the bow of a warship for penetrating the hull of an enemy's ship.

5. (formerly) a warship so equipped, especially one used primarily for ramming enemy vessels.

6. the heavy weight that strikes the blow in a pile driver or the like.

7. a piston, as on a hydraulic press.

8. a reciprocating part of certain machine tools, as the toolholder of a slotter or shaper.

9. hydraulic ram.

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verb (used with object)

• rams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rammed,
  past participle,  past
• ramming
  present participle

1. to drive or force by heavy blows.

   Synonyms:

   hammer, beat, thrust, jam

2. to strike with great force; dash violently against.

   The car went out of control and rammed the truck.

3. to cram; stuff.

   They rammed the gag into his mouth.

4. to push firmly.

   to ram a bill through the Senate.

5. to force (a charge) into a firearm, as with a ramrod.

ram ² American  

[ram] / ræm /

noun

Australian, Now Rare.

1. a confidence man's associate who acts as a decoy; confederate; shill.

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RAM ³ American  

[ram] / ræm /

noun

1. random-access memory; computer memory available to the user for creating, loading, or running programs and for the temporary storage and manipulation of data, in which time of access to each item is independent of the storage sequence. As a storage medium, RAM is volatile, so its contents are lost when the power fails or is turned off.

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RAM ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. reverse annuity mortgage.

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R.A.M. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Royal Academy of Music.

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RAM ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. Royal Academy of Music

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RAM ² British  

/ ræm /

acronym

1. random access memory: semiconductor memory in which all storage locations can be rapidly accessed in the same amount of time. It forms the main memory of a computer, used by applications to perform tasks while the device is operating

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r.a.m. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. relative atomic mass

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Ram ⁴ British  

/ ræm /

noun

1. the constellation Aries, the first sign of the zodiac

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ram ⁵ British  

/ ræm /

noun

1. an uncastrated adult sheep

2. a piston or moving plate, esp one driven hydraulically or pneumatically

3. the falling weight of a pile driver or similar device

4. short for battering ram

5. Also called: rostrum.   beak.  a pointed projection in the stem of an ancient warship for puncturing the hull of enemy ships

6. a warship equipped with a ram

7. slang a sexually active man

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verb

1. to force or drive, as by heavy blows

   to ram a post into the ground

2. (of a moving object) to crash with force (against another object) or (of two moving objects) to collide in this way

   the ships rammed the enemy

3. (tr; often foll by in or down) to stuff or cram (something into a hole, etc)

4. (tr; foll by onto, against etc) to thrust violently

   he rammed the books onto the desk

5. (tr) to present (an idea, argument, etc) forcefully or aggressively (esp in the phrase ram ( something ) down someone's throat )

6. (tr) to drive (a charge) into a firearm

RAM Scientific  

/ răm /

1. Short for random access memory. The main memory of a computer, in which data can be stored or retrieved from all locations at the same (usually very high) speed.

2. See also dynamic RAM static RAM

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RAM Cultural  

1. Acronym for r andom a ccess m emory, which is a type of memory in which a reader can go to a specific item without having to start at the beginning. Random access memories can often be altered once an item is found. (See computer memory and magnetic memory storage; compare ROM.)

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Discover More

hard drives on a computer are an example of RAM.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• rammer
  noun
• ramlike
  adjective
• unrammed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• ramming
  present
• rammed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ram
  simple
• rams
  simple
• have rammed
  perfect
• has rammed
  perfect
• am ramming
  progressive
• are ramming
  progressive
• is ramming
  progressive
• have been ramming
  perfect progressive
• has been ramming
  perfect progressive

Past

• rammed
  simple
• had rammed
  perfect
• was ramming
  progressive
• were ramming
  progressive
• had been ramming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ram
  simple
• will have rammed
  perfect
• will be ramming
  progressive
• will have been ramming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of ram¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun ram, ram(m)e “male sheep, machine for ramming,” Old English ramm, romm; cognate with Dutch, Low German ram, German Ramme; the verb is derivative of the noun

Origin of ram²

First recorded in 1940–45; origin obscure; possibly from British criminal argot ramp “swindle”

Origin of RAM³

r(andom)-a(ccess) m(emory)

Explanation

A male sheep or goat is called a ram. If you're a fan of reading your horoscope, you might notice that Aries, usually considered the first sign of the zodiac, is represented by a ram. Another kind of ram is a "battering ram," a tool for forcing a heavy door open or breaking a hole in a wall. This kind of ram comes from the male sheep and his powerful horns — and so does the verb ram: "I watched the rams ram their heads into each other as they battled over territory." Some word experts think the word stems from the Old Norse rammr, "strong."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ram RAM R.A.M. Ram rams rammed ramming

Lyndon Dykes is a battering ram, but Gabriel and Marquinhos have seen his sort before in their storied careers.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

He and other members of the group have been arrested and detained, including one incident in which federal agents were recorded on video appearing to ram his truck.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

Meanwhile, the black ram called Sebastian in the movie is based on Swann’s version, named Othello.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

So family members can ram a deal through, and force the bill for a misguided move onto outside investors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

She wasn’t sure what the mosasaurus was capable of, though she’d heard of them being used to ram warships during the naval blockades down south.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older

"This could be extremely useful when thinking about next-generation spintronics and RAM architectures."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

The crunch has been nicknamed "RAMaggedon" after the components called RAM, or "random-access memory".

From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026

“That’s why we don’t have RAM anymore?” one user commented.

From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026

Apple silicon employs what’s called “unified memory,” which puts the main processor, graphics card and RAM on a single chip, reducing lag and increasing bandwidth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

Halliday’s first computer had been a TRS-80, with a whopping 16K of RAM.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

He had been working on a paper about R.A.M., the genetic marker that Andrew had.

From New York Times ● May 12, 2016

We admire the enthusiasm of Mr. Ricketts for Velasquez, and his analysis is second to none save R.A.M.

From Promenades of an Impressionist by James Huneker

Note: If the R.A.M. is more than 24 hours, deduct 24 hours.

From Lectures in Navigation by Ernest Gallaudet Draper

Written and composed by James C. Beazley, R.A.M.—There is no such title as R.A.M.

From The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 355, October 16, 1886 by Charles Peters

L.S.T. and R.A.M. are one and the same thing.

From Lectures in Navigation by Ernest Gallaudet Draper

"All the settlements near the river were swept away," Buddhi Ram Dangol told AFP in Nepal's Nuwakot district.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

"Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel," army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

He posted a video of himself revving the engine of a brand new Ram pickup truck.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

This is partly due to component costs such as Ram skyrocketing in price as AI companies buy up all the parts for their data centres.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Is this what Mr. Ram was talking about?

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

That also explains why, and how, his devoted rams, lambs and ewes are able to dedicate themselves to solving his murder.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

"We don't have the means to pay for her studies," she explained from their home's back courtyard, where young children capered about and two rams watched from an enclosure.

From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026

At the opposite extreme is Scotland's Soay sheep, with just 0.6% full siblings because each ewe mates with multiple rams.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026

Once locked on its target, it rams it with minimal human intervention.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2025

And then a great thudding and bumping, like huge rams dinning on the ground.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

“There are serious fair trial and due process violations in these cases, and they are being rammed through the revolutionary courts and fast-tracked.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Murillo claimed he was rammed; prosecutors said the collision happened at less than 10 miles per hour and was “more of a jolt.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026

The only visible law enforcement presence is a police car rammed across the driveway, signaling the limits of encroachment, like an invisible wall in a video game.

From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026

At the moment it's derelict, but Goldsworthy explained his plans to create a rammed earth wall with a deep cavity in the middle, the size of a grave.

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026

I ran to steady him but was rammed from behind by old one-armed Tata Kili, who could not get past me fast enough in his hurry to claim his own stake.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Researchers say ramming has not previously been documented as an orca predation strategy.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

Initially the ramming was reported as an "active shooter incident".

From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026

Arbeloa has only had words of praise for Vinicius since taking over and the forward rewarded his coach with a hug after ramming in the fifth.

From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026

A crowd was waiting for Enriquez to hear his game plan: “No ramming, no throwing, no nothing. Just follow and film.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2025

As the centrifugal force pushed them sideways, Jordan slid across the seat and slammed hard into Alex, ramming him into the side of the bus and smashing the cupcakes into the wall.

From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers

Related Words

• cram
• crash
• run into
• sink
• slam
• smash
• stab
• thrust