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.
an actor or performer who overacts.
an operator of an amateur radio station.
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
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
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.
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.
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
First recorded in 1880–85; short for hamfatter, after The Hamfat Man, a Black minstrel song celebrating an awkward man
From its use in digital communications
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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Having participated in a 50K trail run in Big Bend, where the runners are isolated and only communicate through HAM radio, he understands it’s not the same rush you get with people.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026
They found that the HAM Index was better than other commonly used aging metrics -- including the frailty index, gait speed and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test -- at distinguishing healthy and rapid agers.
From Science Daily • Mar. 8, 2024
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
Jim Sellars worked more than three decades for a telephone company, served as a reserve police officer and had a lifelong passion for weather and HAM radios.
From Seattle Times • May 24, 2018
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
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.
