definitions

cam

1
[ kam ]
/ kæm /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cam ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.
Automotive Slang. camshaft.

verb (used with object), cammed, cam·ming.

to provide (a machine part or mechanism) with a cam or cams.

RELATED WORDS

absurd, askance, asymmetrical, awry, crazy, crooked, lopsided, ludicrous, nonsensical, preposterous, squint, askant, canted, cross-eyed, strabismic

Nearby words

calyx, calzaghe, calzone, calèche, caló, cam, cam follower, cam plant, cam ranh, cam ranh bay, cam wheel

Origin of cam

1
< Dutch or Low German kam, kamm. See comb1

Definition for cam (2 of 5)

cam

2
[ kam ]
/ kæm /

noun

a camera, especially one that records video (often used in combination, as indigital 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

Definition for cam (3 of 5)

Cam

[ kam ]
/ kæm /

noun

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

Definition for cam (4 of 5)

CAM

[ kam ]
/ kæm /

noun

computer-aided manufacturing.

Origin of CAM

First recorded in 1965–70

Definition for cam (5 of 5)

Cam.

Cambridge.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cam

British Dictionary definitions for cam (1 of 3)

cam

/ (kæm) /

noun

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

Word Origin for cam

C18: from Dutch kam comb

British Dictionary definitions for cam (2 of 3)

Cam

/ (kæm) /

noun

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 3)

CAM

abbreviation for

complementary and alternative medicine
computer-aided manufacture
botany crassulacean acid metabolism: a form of photosynthesis, first described in crassulaceous plants, in which carbon dioxide is taken up only at night
Cameroon (international car registration)
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