slam
1 Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
slams,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slammed,
past participle, past
-
slamming
present participle
-
to shut with force and noise.
to slam the door.
-
to dash, strike, knock, thrust, throw, slap down, etc., with violent and noisy impact.
He slammed his books upon the table.
-
Informal. to criticize harshly; attack verbally.
He slammed my taste mercilessly.
noun
-
a violent and noisy closing, dashing, or impact.
-
the noise so made.
-
Slang. Usually the slam slammer.
-
Informal. a harsh criticism; verbal attack.
I am sick of your slams.
-
Informal.
-
Also called poetry slam. a competitive, usually boisterous poetry reading.
-
a usually competitive performance involving multiple performers with short acts: a tap dance slam.
puppet slams;
a tap dance slam.
-
noun
-
the winning or bidding of all the tricks or all the tricks but one in a deal.
-
an old type of card game associated with ruff.
verb
-
to cause (a door or window) to close noisily and with force or (of a door, etc) to close in this way
-
(tr) to throw (something) down noisily and violently
-
slang (tr) to criticize harshly
-
informal (intr; usually foll by into or out of) to go (into or out of a room, etc) in violent haste or anger
-
(tr) to strike with violent force
-
informal (tr) to defeat easily
noun
-
the act or noise of slamming
-
slang harsh criticism or abuse
noun
-
-
the winning of all (grand slam) or all but one (little slam or small slam) of the 13 tricks at bridge or whist
-
the bid to do so in bridge See grand slam little slam
-
-
an old card game
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
slamsimple
-
slamssimple
-
have slammedperfect
-
has slammedperfect
-
am slammingprogressive
-
are slammingprogressive
-
is slammingprogressive
-
have been slammingperfect progressive
-
has been slammingperfect progressive
Past
-
slammedsimple
-
had slammedperfect
-
was slammingprogressive
-
were slammingprogressive
-
had been slammingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slam1
First recorded in 1650–60; perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish slamra “to bang (a door), slam”
Origin of slam2
First recorded in 1660–70; perhaps special use of slam 1
Explanation
To slam is to close something forcefully and loudly, like when you slam your door angrily, or slam the freezer door quickly so your sister won't see the ice cream sandwiches you bought. If you slam your finger in the door, it's going to hurt. And, if you slam your backpack onto the table, you may damage your laptop. The word slam implies violence and force. As a noun, a slam is the action or sound of slamming something. There's also a "poetry slam," when poets compete by reciting their work in front of an audience, and slam-dancing, also known as moshing, in which dancers slam into each other.
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.
See Examples For:
A month later, he hit a grand slam that traveled 473 feet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Gamers were quick to slam the policy as an unethical incursion on their privacy.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
They would slam an already depressed housing market suffering from record prices and nearly 7% mortgage rates.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
A heavy metal door stood open at the end, but I could not help but feel like it may slam shut and I would be trapped in this labyrinth forever.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
We were ordered to raise the dolerite over our head and slam it down against the surface of the granite.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
“This year, out of three slams, I reached one final and one semifinal. For 99% of players, that would be a very good Grand Slam result.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Nearby a large excavator slams its shovel into another building's remains.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
On stage, Cameron Winter leads an overall enthralling performance, as the group slams out songs back-to-back with little to say in between; no shenanigans, just a top-notch show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
Another idea suggests the brightness spikes occur when the blast wave from the explosion slams into dense shells of gas surrounding the star.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 11, 2026
Levi groans and slams down his books in the seat next to me.
From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty
Alessandro Barreto, coordinator of the Justice Ministry's Ciberlab intelligence unit, slammed a "terrible failure in moderation" by Discord.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Dashcam video captured the dramatic moment a lorry slammed into an overpass in New York.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
In March 2022, a rocket slammed into the moon, creating a double crater about 95 feet wide.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Tucker tracked it back to the warning track but just missed the catch as he slammed into the wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Their shiny bodies slashed through the waves, creating a great circle of sea-foam that tightened around the station until the fish slammed against the base.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
A group of university academics last week wrote to Prentice slamming Arday's appointment and asking her to appoint an independent body to probe what happened.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Tropical swells generated by Hurricanes Elida, Fausto and Genevieve off Mexico have been slamming the shore for two weeks.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
A 13-year-old boy riding an electric motorcycle in Garden Grove died after veering into the center median, flying into the air and then slamming onto the roadway, authorities said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2026
United says it has saved millions of connections for customers—and saved employees from slamming the door on them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
And then, in a flurry of doors slamming, they’re gone.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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.
