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

She pointed out the legs in another sketch and their resemblance to the powerful gams of a Michelangelo sculpture on a tomb upstairs.

From New York Times

France center back Raphael Varane said there will be no danger of complacency among his teammates in a gam against the world’s No. 22-ranked team.

From Washington Times

New Orleans has just two interceptions and five fumble recoveries in 11 gams and has an NFL-worst turnover differential of minus-12.

From Seattle Times

The fired Houston Texans head coach, previously Tom Brady’s quarterbacks coach in New England, was hired about 10 days after the national championship gam e to replace Steve Sarkisian, now the coach at Texas.

From Seattle Times

Lucky she wasn’t whistled for a gam misconduct.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

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