Jump To:

• Spam
  Spam

  a canned food product consisting especially of pork formed into a solid block.
• spam
  spam

  verb

  to send unsolicited electronic mail or text messages simultaneously to a number of e-mail addresses or mobile phones

Spam

American  

[spam] / spæm /

Trademark.

1. a canned food product consisting especially of pork formed into a solid block.

---

noun

1. (lowercase) disruptive online messages, especially commercial messages posted on a computer network or sent as email (often used attributively).

   Install spam blocker software and keep your email spam filters updated to protect your accounts from unsolicited spam.

adjective

1. (lowercase) (of promotional content on the internet) irrelevant or misdirected.

   The search engine delivered spam websites that had nothing to do with my keywords.

verb (used with object)

spammed, spamming

1. (lowercase) to send spam to.

2. (lowercase) to execute (an action) or use (an item) rapidly or repeatedly in a video game.

   Spam the attack button as soon as the fight begins.

verb (used without object)

spammed, spamming

1. (lowercase) to send spam.

Spam ¹ British  

/ spæm /

noun

1. a kind of tinned luncheon meat, made largely from pork

---

spam ² British  

/ spæm /

verb

1. to send unsolicited electronic mail or text messages simultaneously to a number of e-mail addresses or mobile phones

---

noun

1. unsolicited electronic mail or text messages sent in this way

spam Cultural  

1. Unsolicited, undesired e-mail. Also used as a verb. Spam is the e-mail version of junk mail.

---

Discover More

The name comes from a Monty Python comedy skit about a restaurant that served only Spam.

Other Word Forms

• spammer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Spam

First recorded in 1937 for the trademarked term; sp(iced) + (h)am ¹; 1990–95 for the other senses, probably referring to a comedy routine on Monty Python's Flying Circus, British TV series, in which the word Spam is used repeatedly

Explanation

There are few things more annoying than an email inbox full of spam. Spam is unwanted internet advertising that's sent to a huge number of people at a time. In 1937, a canned meat product named Spam was introduced by Hormel Foods, which said that its name was a combination of the words spiced and ham. Later, in a 1970 comedy sketch, the word was used in a silly song, in which the name of the food product was repeated over and over, drowning out the conversation. Not until the early 1990s did the more modern definition of spam come into use, referring to mass-distributed email advertisements under which more important content gets buried. As a verb, to spam is to send such a message.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Spam spam spammed spamming

He had fond memories of eating Spam during a stint in the army, for instance, so she cooked a dish of Spam fried rice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025

Hormel Foods HRL -0.70%decrease; red down pointing triangle is cutting 250 corporate and sales jobs as part of a restructuring, the food company that owns brands including Planters, Skippy and Spam said Tuesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025

Hormel, which is best known as the parent of the Spam and Planters brands, recently cut its profit outlook amid higher-than-expected costs for meat, as well as nuts.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2025

The painting “Actual Size” features a can of Spam rocketing across the canvas, trailing flames amid a shower of splattered blue paint.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024

They were here to cut open my apartment and pull me out of it, like a chunk of Spam being removed from a can.

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

"We've essentially built a scientific spam filter," Professor Barnett said.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026

Meanwhile, telemarketing and spam phone calls have reached epidemic levels: Americans are bombarded with robocalls — roughly 4 billion to 5 billion every month — despite decades of regulation.

From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026

In the digital world, I have difficulties too: filling out online forms or setting up an email address can see my name rejected and the emails I send often go into spam folders.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

Sure, it’s basketballs to baseballs, and not a perfect comparison; just imagine how high Ohtani’s usage would be if you could spam the pick-and-roll with him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026

Knowing most of those e-mails wouldn’t get through the spam filters, I also posted it to every gunter message board.

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

Before the pandemic, Xu remembers being spammed in recruitment group chats with new job postings every spring and fall.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

They are being spammed with it,” she says.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 23, 2024

Meanwhile, self-published authors now have to contend with an onslaught of AI-generated content on Amazon, and certain sci-fi magazines have had to close submissions altogether — they were getting spammed with too many AI creations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2023

They hurled insults, played loud music, and spammed the group conversation.

From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2023

“And my cousin Molly. She spammed me with quotes for a week straight.”

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli

There is, however, one promising trend: Consumers who are sick of this paid spamming are taking it to court.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026

“It will discourage companies from spamming the system and provide certainty to employers who actually need to bring the top-tier talent from overseas,” Rogers said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026

"My followers began spamming 'return the moai' on Wikipedia, and then the comments section of the British Museum Instagram was full of people posting 'return the moai'," he said in one recent clip.

From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2024

Board members told the high court in their filing that the accounts were maintained without government funding, and the parents were blocked after spamming the accounts.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 26, 2023

The illiterate message can send itself automatically, as image or as speech, as video or as Internet spamming, whatever best hits its human target, to people's addresses.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Mihai Nadin