cam

1
[ kam ]
/ kæm /
SEE 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.

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Origin of cam

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

Words nearby cam

calyptra, calyptrogen, calyx, Calzaghe, calzone, cam, cama, camaca, Camacho, Camagüey, camail

Definition for cam (2 of 5)

cam2
[ 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. 2020

Words related to cam

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

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