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cam
1[ kam ]
/ kæm /
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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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Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.
Origin of cam
1<Dutch or Low German kam, kamm.See comb
Words nearby cam
Other definitions 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
Other definitions 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.
Other definitions for cam (4 of 5)
Origin of CAM
First recorded in 1965–70
Other definitions for cam (5 of 5)
Cam.
abbreviation
Cambridge.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use cam in a sentence
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
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