gam¹

[gam]

See more synonyms for gam on Thesaurus.com

noun Slang.

a person's leg, especially an attractive female leg.

Origin of gam¹

1775–85; probably < Polari < Italian gamba leg; see jamb¹

gam²

[gam]

noun

a herd or school of whales.
Eastern New England, Nautical. a social meeting, visit, or the like, as between whaling vessels at sea.

verb (used without object), gammed, gam·ming.

(of whales) to assemble into a herd or school.
Nautical. (of the officers and crews of two whaling vessels) to visit or converse with one another for social purposes.
Eastern New England. to participate in a gam or social visit.

Origin of gam²

1840–50, Americanism; perhaps dialectal variant of game¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gams

Contemporary Examples

I belong to the “Soccer Hater” demographic – middle-aged Republican crank with long, blonde hair and a great pair of gams.
Up To a Point: Oops, I Enjoyed Soccer
P. J. O’Rourke
July 13, 2014
I belong to the “Soccer Hater” demographic—middle-aged Republican crank with long, blonde hair and a great pair of gams.
DUP-Up To a Point: Oops, I Enjoyed Soccer
P. J. O’Rourke
July 13, 2014

Historical Examples

Gams, Zur Geschichte der spanischen Staatsinquisition, p. 34.
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 1
Henry Charles Lea
I suppose the Colonel goes down to the Ship Chandler's and gams with the old whaling captains.
Vanished Arizona
Martha Summerhayes
The red row of marks along her gams, raw and terrible, sprang to his sight out of the darkness.
Waysiders
Seumas O'Kelly
He is certainly the best of all the Gams, and appears to be very liberal.
Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The
William Griffith

British Dictionary definitions for gams

gam¹

noun

a school of whales
nautical an informal visit between crew members of whalers
NZ a flock of large sea birds

verb gams, gamming or gammed

(intr) (of whales) to form a school
nautical (of members of the crews of whalers) to visit (each other) informally
(tr) US to visit or exchange visits with

Word Origin

C19: perhaps dialect variant of game 1

gam²

noun

slang a leg, esp a woman's shapely leg

Word Origin

C18: probably from Old Northern French gambe or Lingua Franca gambe; see jamb

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

Word Origin and History for gams

n.

"legs," 1781, low slang, probably the same word as gamb "leg of an animal on a coat of arms" (1727) and ultimately from Middle English gamb "leg," from Old North French (see gammon). Now, in American English slang, especially with reference to well-formed legs of pretty women, but this was not the original sense.

gam

n.

"a leg," 1781, see gams.

gam.css-pdubzd{font-size:17px;vertical-align:super;}1

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}gam1

gam2

Origin of gam2

Examples from the Web for gams

Contemporary Examples

I belong to the “Soccer Hater” demographic – middle-aged Republican crank with long, blonde hair and a great pair of gams.

I belong to the “Soccer Hater” demographic—middle-aged Republican crank with long, blonde hair and a great pair of gams.

Historical Examples

Gams, Zur Geschichte der spanischen Staatsinquisition, p. 34.

I suppose the Colonel goes down to the Ship Chandler's and gams with the old whaling captains.

The red row of marks along her gams, raw and terrible, sprang to his sight out of the darkness.

He is certainly the best of all the Gams, and appears to be very liberal.

gam1

Word Origin

gam2

Word Origin

Word Origin and History for gams

n.

gam

n.

gam¹

Origin of gam¹

gam²

Origin of gam²

gam¹

gam²