jam-up

[ jam-uhp ]

noun

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.

Origin of jam-up

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Nowadays, the crooks jam up the MetroCard dispensers so people are unable to purchase or replenish one.
My Patrol With the NYPD’s Bill Bratton | Michael Daly | March 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I have seen a child rubbing a bit of bread-and-jam up and down on the dirty stone before it eats it.
The Children's Book of London | Geraldine Edith Mitton
But here was a taxi, jam up against the curb not a dozen feet62 off, with the chauffeur swingin' his cap enthusiastic.
Shorty McCabe on the Job | Sewell Ford
"When the jam up broke we'd have the water and the wreckage down on the mine," he said.
A Damaged Reputation | Harold Bindloss
The temperature must have been perfect, and connubial bliss I allot was rael jam up.
The American Joe Miller | Various

Put it jam up agin Plunkett's head un tell him to hole still ur die.
The Graysons | Edward Eggleston

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