gam

¹

[ gam ]

noun

, Slang.

1. a person's leg, especially an attractive female leg.

gam

²

[ gam ]

noun

1. a herd or school of whales.
2. Eastern New England, Nautical. a social meeting, visit, or the like, as between whaling vessels at sea.

verb (used without object)

, gammed, gam·ming.

1. (of whales) to assemble into a herd or school.
2. Nautical. (of the officers and crews of two whaling vessels) to visit or converse with one another for social purposes.
3. Eastern New England. to participate in a gam or social visit.

gam

¹

/ ɡæm /

noun

1. a school of whales
2. nautical an informal visit between crew members of whalers
3. a flock of large sea birds

verb

1. intr (of whales) to form a school
2. nautical (of members of the crews of whalers) to visit (each other) informally
3. tr to visit or exchange visits with

gam

²

/ ɡæm /

noun

1. slang.
   a leg, esp a woman's shapely leg

Word History and Origins

Origin of gam¹

1775–85; probably < Polari < Italian gamba leg; jamb ¹

Origin of gam²

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; perhaps dialectal variant of game ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of gam¹

C19: perhaps dialect variant of game ¹

Origin of gam²

C18: probably from Old Northern French gambe or Lingua Franca gambe; see jamb

Example Sentences

Reus was not under contract with Dortmund, but the Galaxy had to pay $400,000 to Charlotte FC in GAM, or general allocation money, for the player’s discovery rights.

From Los Angeles Times

Julian Howard, chief multi-asset investment strategist at GAM Investments, said a rate cut in September now looked "all but certain".

From BBC

The video was recorded from an observation post located next to an evacuation site in a field at Gam Ici village.

From Seattle Times

At the time of the eruption, the wind was blowing to the west, and as a result the volcanic material was carried by the wind down to a site where people previously evacuated have been living, in a field at Gam Ici village, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.

From Seattle Times

"It's been a quiet day, maybe people are consolidating a bit," said Julian Howard, a multi-asset investment director at asset manager GAM.

From Reuters

Related Words

• arm
• branch
• extremity
• leg
• stem
• wheel
• wing