ham2
- an actor or performer who overacts.
- an operator of an amateur radio station.
- to act with exaggerated expression of emotion; overact.
- ham it up, to overact; ham.
Origin of ham2
Examples from the Web for hammed
Contemporary Examples
Everyone from Theodore Roosevelt to J.P. Morgan to Jack Lemmon hammed it up on the Hasty Pudding stage during their college days.
Historical Examples
The gang were all missile men and they cheered and jeered as he hammed up the introduction.
Toy ShopHenry Maxwell Dempsey
ham1
- the part of the hindquarters of a pig or similar animal between the hock and the hip
- the meat of this part, esp when salted or smoked
- informal
- the back of the leg above the knee
- the space or area behind the knee
- needlework a cushion used for moulding curves
Word Origin
ham2
- theatre informal
- an actor who overacts or relies on stock gestures or mannerisms
- overacting or clumsy acting
- (as modifier)a ham actor
- informal
- a licensed amateur radio operator
- (as modifier)a ham licence
- informal to overact
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for hammed
ham
n.1
"meat of a hog's hind leg used for food," 1630s, from Old English hamm "hollow or bend of the knee," from Proto-Germanic *hamma- (cf. Old Norse höm, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch hamme, Old High German hamma), from PIE *konemo- "shin bone" (cf. Greek kneme "calf of the leg," Old Irish cnaim "bone"). Ham-fisted (1928) was originally in reference to pilots who were heavy on the controls, as was ham-handed (by 1918). With hammen ifalden "with folded hams" was a Middle English way of saying "kneeling."
ham
n.2
"overacting inferior performer," 1882, American English, apparently a shortening of hamfatter (1880) "actor of low grade," said since at least 1889 to be from an old minstrel show song, "The Ham-fat Man" (1863). The song, a black-face number, has nothing to do with acting, so the connection must be with the quality of acting in minstrel shows, where the song was popular. Ham also had a sports slang sense of "incompetent pugilist" circa 1888, perhaps from ham-fisted. The notion of "amateurish" led to the sense of "amateur radio operator" (1919). The verb in the performance sense is first recorded 1933. As an adjective in this sense by 1935.
Ham
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.