cam

1
[ kam ]
See synonyms for cam on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Machinery. a disk or cylinder having an irregular form such that its motion, usually rotary, gives to a part or parts in contact with it a specific rocking or reciprocating motion.

  2. Automotive Slang. camshaft.

verb (used with object),cammed, cam·ming.
  1. to provide (a machine part or mechanism) with a cam or cams.

Origin of cam

1
<Dutch or Low German kam, kamm.See comb

Other definitions for cam (2 of 5)

cam2
[ kam ]

noun
  1. a camera, especially one that records video (often used in combination, as in digital cam; traffic cam; webcam): She's a professional photographer who uses state-of-the-art cams.

Origin of cam

2
First recorded in 1975–80; shortening of camera1

Other definitions for Cam (3 of 5)

Cam
[ kam ]

noun
  1. a river in E England flowing NE by Cambridge, into the Ouse River. 40 miles (64 km) long.

Other definitions for CAM (4 of 5)

CAM
[ kam ]

Origin of CAM

4
First recorded in 1965–70

Other definitions for Cam. (5 of 5)

Cam.

abbreviation
  1. Cambridge.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cam in a sentence

  • Oh, my puir lamb, you're wet to the skin, an' fair done; for God knows its an' awfu' mess you hae cam' hame in.

    The Underworld | James C. Welsh
  • Mony's the time I hae ettled to send ye a screed, but there was aye something that cam' i' the gait.

  • If a person speaks of Cambridge, one's mind immediately flies to the English university city on the banks of the river cam.

    Stories That Words Tell Us | Elizabeth O'Neill
  • Your ain cloak was thin enough when ye cam here, though ye have lined it gay and weel.

    The Fortunes of Nigel | Sir Walter Scott
  • She didnae stand there lang; she began to move again an' cam' slowly towards Mr. Soulis whaur he stood under the saughs.

British Dictionary definitions for cam (1 of 4)

cam

/ (kæm) /


noun
  1. a slider or roller attached to a rotating shaft to give a particular type of reciprocating motion to a part in contact with its profile

Origin of cam

1
C18: from Dutch kam comb

British Dictionary definitions for Cam (2 of 4)

Cam

/ (kæm) /


noun
  1. a river in E England, in Cambridgeshire, flowing through Cambridge to the River Ouse. Length: about 64 km (40 miles)

British Dictionary definitions for CAM (3 of 4)

CAM

abbreviation for
  1. complementary and alternative medicine

  2. computer-aided manufacture

  1. botany crassulacean acid metabolism: a form of photosynthesis, first described in crassulaceous plants, in which carbon dioxide is taken up only at night

  2. Cameroon (international car registration)

British Dictionary definitions for -cam (4 of 4)

-cam

n combining form
  1. camera: webcam

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012