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• ram
  ram

  noun

  a male sheep.
• RAM
  RAM

  noun

  random-access memory; computer memory available to the user for creating, loading, or running programs and for the temporary storage and manipulation of data, in which time of access to each item is independent of the storage sequence. As a storage medium, RAM is volatile, so its contents are lost when the power fails or is turned off.
• R.A.M.
  R.A.M.

  abbreviation

  Royal Academy of Music.
• r.a.m.
  r.a.m.

  abbreviation

  relative atomic mass
• Ram
  Ram

  noun

  the constellation Aries, the first sign of the zodiac

ram

¹ American  

[ram] / ræm /

noun

1. a male sheep.

2. Astronomy, Astrology. Aries, the constellation or sign of Aries.

3. any of various devices for battering, crushing, driving, or forcing something, especially a battering ram.

4. (formerly) a heavy beak or spur projecting from the bow of a warship for penetrating the hull of an enemy's ship.

5. (formerly) a warship so equipped, especially one used primarily for ramming enemy vessels.

6. the heavy weight that strikes the blow in a pile driver or the like.

7. a piston, as on a hydraulic press.

8. a reciprocating part of certain machine tools, as the toolholder of a slotter or shaper.

9. hydraulic ram.

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verb (used with object)

• rams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rammed,
  past participle,  past
• ramming
  present participle

1. to drive or force by heavy blows.

   Synonyms:

   hammer, beat, thrust, jam

2. to strike with great force; dash violently against.

   The car went out of control and rammed the truck.

3. to cram; stuff.

   They rammed the gag into his mouth.

4. to push firmly.

   to ram a bill through the Senate.

5. to force (a charge) into a firearm, as with a ramrod.

ram ² American  

[ram] / ræm /

noun

Australian, Now Rare.

1. a confidence man's associate who acts as a decoy; confederate; shill.

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RAM ³ American  

[ram] / ræm /

noun

1. random-access memory; computer memory available to the user for creating, loading, or running programs and for the temporary storage and manipulation of data, in which time of access to each item is independent of the storage sequence. As a storage medium, RAM is volatile, so its contents are lost when the power fails or is turned off.

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RAM ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. reverse annuity mortgage.

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R.A.M. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Royal Academy of Music.

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r.a.m. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. relative atomic mass

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Ram ² British  

/ ræm /

noun

1. the constellation Aries, the first sign of the zodiac

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RAM ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Royal Academy of Music

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RAM ⁴ British  

/ ræm /

acronym

1. random access memory: semiconductor memory in which all storage locations can be rapidly accessed in the same amount of time. It forms the main memory of a computer, used by applications to perform tasks while the device is operating

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ram ⁵ British  

/ ræm /

noun

1. an uncastrated adult sheep

2. a piston or moving plate, esp one driven hydraulically or pneumatically

3. the falling weight of a pile driver or similar device

4. short for battering ram

5. Also called: rostrum, beak. a pointed projection in the stem of an ancient warship for puncturing the hull of enemy ships

6. a warship equipped with a ram

7. slang a sexually active man

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verb

1. to force or drive, as by heavy blows

   to ram a post into the ground

2. (of a moving object) to crash with force (against another object) or (of two moving objects) to collide in this way

   the ships rammed the enemy

3. (tr; often foll by in or down) to stuff or cram (something into a hole, etc)

4. (tr; foll by onto, against etc) to thrust violently

   he rammed the books onto the desk

5. (tr) to present (an idea, argument, etc) forcefully or aggressively (esp in the phrase ram ( something ) down someone's throat )

6. (tr) to drive (a charge) into a firearm

RAM Scientific  

/ răm /

1. Short for random access memory. The main memory of a computer, in which data can be stored or retrieved from all locations at the same (usually very high) speed.

2. See also dynamic RAM static RAM

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RAM Cultural  

1. Acronym for r andom a ccess m emory, which is a type of memory in which a reader can go to a specific item without having to start at the beginning. Random access memories can often be altered once an item is found. (See computer memory and magnetic memory storage; compare ROM.)

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Discover More

hard drives on a computer are an example of RAM.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• rammer
  noun
• ramlike
  adjective
• unrammed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• ramming
  present
• rammed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ram
  simple
• rams
  simple
• have rammed
  perfect
• has rammed
  perfect
• am ramming
  progressive
• are ramming
  progressive
• is ramming
  progressive
• have been ramming
  perfect progressive
• has been ramming
  perfect progressive

Past

• rammed
  simple
• had rammed
  perfect
• was ramming
  progressive
• were ramming
  progressive
• had been ramming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ram
  simple
• will have rammed
  perfect
• will be ramming
  progressive
• will have been ramming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of ram¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun ram, ram(m)e “male sheep, machine for ramming,” Old English ramm, romm; cognate with Dutch, Low German ram, German Ramme; the verb is derivative of the noun

Origin of ram²

First recorded in 1940–45; origin obscure; possibly from British criminal argot ramp “swindle”

Origin of RAM³

r(andom)-a(ccess) m(emory)

Explanation

A male sheep or goat is called a ram. If you're a fan of reading your horoscope, you might notice that Aries, usually considered the first sign of the zodiac, is represented by a ram. Another kind of ram is a "battering ram," a tool for forcing a heavy door open or breaking a hole in a wall. This kind of ram comes from the male sheep and his powerful horns — and so does the verb ram: "I watched the rams ram their heads into each other as they battled over territory." Some word experts think the word stems from the Old Norse rammr, "strong."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ram RAM R.A.M. Ram rams rammed ramming

Lyndon Dykes is a battering ram, but Gabriel and Marquinhos have seen his sort before in their storied careers.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

Astronomers have already found evidence that ram pressure stripping is affecting M88 today.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 1, 2026

Meanwhile, the black ram called Sebastian in the movie is based on Swann’s version, named Othello.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

On June 11, he wrote: “Every time I read about the battering ram incident I’m just floored at how wild that is.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026

Below them the ram kept up its remorseless battering.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

"This could be extremely useful when thinking about next-generation spintronics and RAM architectures."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

In Tokyo's tech hub of Akihabara, Charles Brousse, a 30-year-old graphic designer and custom PC builder from Belgium, said prices for RAM, graphics cards and motherboards have hit "ridiculous levels".

From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026

Citi says that apart from a robust RAM performance and an unusually strong June for the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, the rest of the automaker’s U.S. model portfolio remains very weak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

“That’s why we don’t have RAM anymore?” one user commented.

From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026

Why was Bobbie Lyles importing ridiculous amounts of data into her home, into her back bedroom, specifically; way more data than that crappy desktop dinosaur PC with its half a gigabyte of RAM could handle?

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin

He had been working on a paper about R.A.M., the genetic marker that Andrew had.

From New York Times ● May 12, 2016

We admire the enthusiasm of Mr. Ricketts for Velasquez, and his analysis is second to none save R.A.M.

From Promenades of an Impressionist by James Huneker

L.S.T. and R.A.M. are one and the same thing.

From Lectures in Navigation by Ernest Gallaudet Draper

Henley was right in declaring that until R.A.M.

From Promenades of an Impressionist by James Huneker

Anti-gas research was at first centred in the R.A.M.

From The Riddle of the Rhine; chemical strategy in peace and war by Victor Lefebure

Ram wonders if he will ever get any answers.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

In Adams’ best game as a Ram, he caught eight passes for two touchdowns and 195 yards — 13 more than the Giants’ yardage total.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

He also won the 2020 Australian Open with Ram, and two mixed doubles titles with Desirae Krawczyk.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

The discussions generated by Coxon’s posts will mostly impact regulation on further development, Ram Bala, an associate professor of AI and analytics at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

Tats writes on the wall first: Mr. Ram was a good friend to my best friend, rest in peace, xoxo.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

That also explains why, and how, his devoted rams, lambs and ewes are able to dedicate themselves to solving his murder.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

"We don't have the means to pay for her studies," she explained from their home's back courtyard, where young children capered about and two rams watched from an enclosure.

From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026

At the opposite extreme is Scotland's Soay sheep, with just 0.6% full siblings because each ewe mates with multiple rams.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026

Once locked on its target, it rams it with minimal human intervention.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2025

Suddenly, the car ahead of us brakes, and as we brake, too, the car behind rams into us, and the trunk flies open.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

Instead of being at the site where Al-Qaeda hijackers rammed planes into the World Trade Center towers, Trump will pay his respects on Friday at the Pentagon in Washington.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

A car was rammed into the bay window, exposing the room inside.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

In Knueppel’s first season in the league, Brust rammed him with a shoulder, to see how he’d react.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026

Murillo claimed he was rammed; prosecutors said the collision happened at less than 10 miles per hour and was “more of a jolt.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026

She and Tony both managed to climb on...until a huge hunk of metal from the tank rammed into the wagon.

From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis

The home belongs to Cole Worthy's father, Gye Worthy, and the ramming happened on the same night Cole died.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Mat Swanigan, 37, designed a custom lock for a set of french doors his dog kept ramming into.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Researchers say ramming has not previously been documented as an orca predation strategy.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

A late catch by Pages helped close out the game after he gloved a ball despite ramming into the padding of the center field wall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

“I slammed on my brakes and just barely missed ramming him.”

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Related Words

• cram
• crash
• run into
• sink
• slam
• smash
• stab
• thrust