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jam-up

American  
[jam-uhp] / ˈdʒæmˌʌp /

noun

  1. a stoppage or slowing of motion, work, or the like, due to obstruction, overloading, malfunction, or inefficiency; jam.

    Your letters didn't go out yesterday because there was a jam-up in the mail room.

Etymology

Origin of jam-up

First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase jam up

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That lack of juice could jam up the market this year, warns Jordi Visser, head of AI Macro Nexus Research for 22V Research in his latest commentary this weekend.

From Barron's • Jan. 12, 2026

“So there’s always sort of a jam up at the end, where I want everything to hurry up and bloom inside.”

From Seattle Times • Sep. 20, 2023

“It could jam up free speech not only for minors,” but cut off access to online information for adults, said Nadine Strossen, a former national president of the American Civil Liberties Union.

From New York Times • Apr. 30, 2023

"Smaller retailers did not have the inventory jam up that the big boxes have."

From Reuters • Apr. 26, 2023

Yachts can be moored against the south bank above the bridge, but should not be left unguarded, as the tide runs strong, and wherries tacking through the bridge often jam up against the bank.

From The Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk by Davies, G. Christopher

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.