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• ham
  ham

  noun

  a cut of meat from the heavy-muscled part of a hog's rear quarter, between hip and hock, usually cured.
• Ham
  Ham

  noun

  (in the Bible) the second son of Noah.
• HAM
  HAM

  adverb

  hard as a motherfucker: in an extremely high-energy manner; to an exceptional degree (a euphemistic acronym used as a description of intensity, without explicit vulgarity).

SEE ALSO:

Slang dictionary results for ham.

ham

¹ American  

[ham] / hæm /

noun

1. a cut of meat from the heavy-muscled part of a hog's rear quarter, between hip and hock, usually cured.

2. that part of a hog's hind leg.

3. the part of the leg back of the knee.

4. Often hams. the back of the thigh, or the thigh and the buttock together.

---

ham ² American  

[ham] / hæm /

noun

1. an actor or performer who overacts.

2. an operator of an amateur radio station.

---

verb (used with or without object)

• hams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hammed,
  past participle,  past
• hamming
  present participle

1. to act with exaggerated expression of emotion; overact.

idioms

1. ham it up, to overact; ham.

Ham ³ American  

[ham] / hæm /

noun

1. (in the Bible) the second son of Noah.

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HAM ⁴ American  

[ham] / hæm /

Or ham

adverb

Slang.

1. hard as a motherfucker: in an extremely high-energy manner; to an exceptional degree (a euphemistic acronym used as a description of intensity, without explicit vulgarity).

   Nothing can stop me from partying HAM this spring break!

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idioms

1. go HAM, to exhibit optimal energy or enthusiasm; to make a great effort.

   The team went HAM on the final play and mowed down the defense.

ham ¹ British  

/ hæm /

noun

1. informal theatre

   1. an actor who overacts or relies on stock gestures or mannerisms

   2. overacting or clumsy acting

   3. ( as modifier )

      a ham actor

2. informal

   1. a licensed amateur radio operator

   2. ( as modifier )

      a ham licence

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verb

1. informal to overact

ham ² British  

/ hæm /

noun

1. the part of the hindquarters of a pig or similar animal between the hock and the hip

2. the meat of this part, esp when salted or smoked

3. informal

   1. the back of the leg above the knee

   2. the space or area behind the knee

4. needlework a cushion used for moulding curves

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Ham Cultural  

1. One of the three sons of Noah. According to the biblical account, Noah and his family were the only human survivors of the great Flood and were therefore the progenitors of all the peoples on Earth.

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Usage

What else does ham mean? To go ham is to put in an extraordinary, even aggressive, amount of effort. If you went crazy eating ham, you'd be going ham on some ham. In this sense, ham may stand for hard as a motherf****r.

Discover More

The “curse of Ham” refers to the biblical story in which Ham, seeing his father drunk and naked, refused to turn away as his two brothers did. When Noah awoke, he cursed Ham and his son Canaan, supposedly causing a darker pigmentation in their descendants. This so-called curse has often been wrongly used to justify racism.

Egypt (see also Egypt) was traditionally called “the Land of Ham,” and Ham was considered to be the ancestor of the Egyptians and of all African peoples south of Egypt.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• hamming
  present
• hammed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ham
  simple
• hams
  simple
• have hammed
  perfect
• has hammed
  perfect
• am hamming
  progressive
• are hamming
  progressive
• is hamming
  progressive
• have been hamming
  perfect progressive
• has been hamming
  perfect progressive

Past

• hammed
  simple
• had hammed
  perfect
• was hamming
  progressive
• were hamming
  progressive
• had been hamming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ham
  simple
• will have hammed
  perfect
• will be hamming
  progressive
• will have been hamming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of ham¹

before 1000; Middle English hamme, Old English hamm bend of the knee; cognate with Middle Dutch, Middle Low German hamme, Old High German hamma; akin to Old Norse hǫm buttock; perhaps akin to Greek knḗmē shin, Old Irish cnáim bone

Origin of ham²

First recorded in 1880–85; short for hamfatter, after The Hamfat Man, a Black minstrel song celebrating an awkward man

Origin of HAM⁴

From its use in digital communications

Explanation

Ham is a type of pork, or meat that comes from a pig. If you order a ham sandwich at a deli, you'll get a pile of thinly-sliced meat between two slices of bread. Most ham is preserved in some way, either smoked or salted, and traditionally this meat comes from a hog's hind legs. For many people who celebrate Easter, ham is a typical main dish. Ham, defined in the 1630s as "meat from the hind leg of a pig," comes from the Old English hamm, "hollow or bend of the knee." If you're a performer described as a ham, it means your acting is way too theatrical or exaggerated.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ham Ham HAM hams hammed hamming

We have the summer season passes and we just go ham.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Michelle Monaghan, always good, is also among the cast, as homicide detective Amanda Beck, though she lays low enough to duck all the free-floating ham in this adaptation of Alex North’s 2019 novel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Not dramatically on sale, in the way of a holiday ham wearing a fluorescent sticker that announces some brief and glorious collapse in the market.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

"We have ham, pickled garlic, tahini, and stinky tofu and liquor. Just below my office is a shop whose speciality is vodka, foie gras and apple in one scoop," says Yan.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

It was Frank who brought me a plate of chicken and ham that I could not eat, and Frank who stood by my elbow with a glass of champagne I would not drink.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

West Ham, for example, won a European competition three years ago, Wolves are recent top-flight regulars; likewise Stade de Reims, twice European Cup runners-up, and eight-time French champions Nantes.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Moore was only 25 at the time, and had enjoyed success at club level with West Ham United, winning the FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup before the World Cup.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Earlier this month, it hosted a gathering for artists at Ham Green House in Pill, and is soon launching an artist residency at East Quay in Watchet.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

After playing for youth academies such as Arsenal, West Ham United and Chelsea, Gabriel signed with Manchester United at age 11.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean’s poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to make the players move.

From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

Having participated in a 50K trail run in Big Bend, where the runners are isolated and only communicate through HAM radio, he understands it’s not the same rush you get with people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026

"This gives us confidence that the HAM Index can truly predict who is a healthy ager versus a rapid ager."

From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2024

The network is divided into regions, where leaders sometimes hold training sessions on HAM radios, firearms or emergency first aid.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2021

Especially in 2020, the point is not to go HAM because last year was the greatest.

From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2020

He wore bright blue orthopedic sandals, a faded Bob Marley T-shirt, and a white baseball hat that said, HAM, BACON, SAUSAGE.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

ChatGPT said she’d need to make two turkeys, two hams and six pies to feed all those guests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025

There is a pleasing calm to her delivery that stands out in a scene of fidgety hams.

From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2024

Many commercially available hams, especially highly processed and cured varieties, can be high in sodium, which is salt.

From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2024

Union leaders are lining up donations of turkeys and hams in hopes of meeting demand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2023

Trimble: thickly muscled, with forearms like hams and a tattoo of a mermaid on one bicep.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Now their AI capability, however obscure, is hammed up.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2024

We don’t know if Nguyễn Phú Trọng, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, was briefed on the age discussion in advance, but he really hammed it up for the press.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2023

“He landed funny on his knee and hammed his hip, and we were really worried about it,” Carroll said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2023

The tenor Roberto Alagna and the soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, appearing together from France, delightedly hammed up a selection from Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore,” with Mr. Alagna clambering up the ladder attached to their bookshelves.

From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2020

Several sailors did imitations of Cockney boys begging for a treat as Marston hammed it up as an ice cream vendor.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Twenty minutes later, they are on stage rehearsing The Happy Dictator; followed by Shaun Ryder, hamming up his part on the 2005 classic Dare!

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

Was it necessary to have the head coach of the Warriors and a former Bulls shooting guard hamming it up on the party’s biggest night?

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2024

Was he hamming it up for the cameras?

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2024

One of Claude’s colleagues, hamming to impress the fictional Paul, overstates their closeness: “‘We get on like a house on fire, don’t we, Claude?’

From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2024

“And the ladies,” I say, hamming it up even more.

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

Related Words

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