cam
1[ kam ]
/ kæm /
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.
QUIZZES
BEAT THE DOLDRUMS WITH THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!
We know you’ll tackle this quiz totis viribus! See how many words from the week of Oct 12–18, 2020 you get right!
Question 1 of 7
What does “Indigenous” mean?
Origin of cam
1<Dutch or Low German kam, kamm.See comb
Words nearby cam
Definition for cam (2 of 5)
cam2
[ kam ]
/ kæm /
noun
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
2First 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)
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. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for cam
British Dictionary definitions for cam (1 of 4)
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 4)
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 4)
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)
British Dictionary definitions for cam (4 of 4)
-cam
n combining form
camerawebcam
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