(one's) jam

(one's) jam

slang

1. A song that one loves or likes a lot. Yo, this is my jam! Turn it up! A: "This dumb song is your jam?" B: "Yes, and clearly you have no taste." Look at Mom dancing with her friends over there. This must be their jam!

2. Something one particularly prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about. I knew classic literature was your jam, so I thought you might like this book I found. Thank you for the invitation, but long-distance cycling just isn't really my jam. Baking's not my jam—I don't like having to measure every little thing so precisely.

See also: jam

jam

1. verb To play music together. I heard you guys jamming out in the garage—you really sounded great! We jammed until the wee hours of the night.

2. verb To leave. Aw man, I've got to jam. See you later.

3. verb To forcefully shove a basketball into the net, as by dunking. He was able to jam it right at the buzzer and give us a two-point lead.

4. noun Difficulty or trouble. I'm in a bit of a jam here—my car won't start, and I have a job interview in half an hour.

5. noun In basketball, the act of forcefully shoving a basketball into the net, as by dunking. His jam right at the buzzer gave us a two point lead.

6. slang A song that one loves or likes a lot. Yo, this is my jam! Turn it up!

7. slang Something one particularly prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about. I knew classic literature was your jam, so I thought you might like this book I found. Thank you for the invitation, but long-distance cycling just isn't really my jam.

8. slang A car. The term comes from rhyming slang in which "jam" is short for "jam jar," which rhymes with "car." Primarily heard in UK. That's a beauty of a jam you've got there. What is it, a '67? My jam won't start today—can I get a ride with you?

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

jam someone or something (into something)

 and jam someone or something in

to force or compress someone or something into something or some place. Sam jammed all his clothes into the canvas bag. The conductor jammed all the passengers into one car. Don't jam in everything! They had to jam themselves into the tiny room, because there was no other place to meet.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

jam

see under get in a bind.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

jam

1. n. a problem; trouble. I hear you’re in a bad jam.

2. in. [for musicians] to play together, improvising. They jammed until the neighbors complained.

3. tv. & in. to force a basketball into the basket; to slam dunk a basketball. He tried to jam it, but blew it.

4. n. an act of forcing a basketball into the basket; a slam dunk. The jam didn’t work, and Fred’s team rebounded the ball.

5. in. to depart. It’s time to jam. Let’s go.

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.