gam

See also gẫm, gấm, and gặm

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

From Middle English gamb (“leg”). Alternative etymologies suggest that it may be of Polari origin possibly from Italian.

Noun

gam (plural gams)

1. (slang) A person's leg.

Etymology 2

Noun

gam (plural gams)

1. A collective noun used to refer to a group of whales; a pod.
   • 1862, Henry Theodore Cheever, The Whalemen's Adventures in the Southern Ocean, Darton & Hodge, page 116.

     Upon getting into a "gam" of whales, this boat, together with that of one of the mates, pulled for a single whale that was seen at a distance from the others, and succeeded in getting square up to their victim unperceived.

2. (by extension) A social gathering of whalers or other ships.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, Harper and Brothers, chapter 53.

     But what is a Gam? You might wear out your index-finger running up and down the columns of dictionaries, and never find the word, Dr. Johnson never attained to that erudition; Noah Webster’s ark does not hold it. Nevertheless, this same expressive word has now for many years been in constant use among some fifteen thousand true born Yankees. Certainly, it needs a definition, and should be incorporated into the Lexicon. With that view, let me learnedly define it. Gam. NOUN—A social meeting of two (or more) Whaleships, generally on a cruising-ground; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats’ crews, the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship, and the two chief mates on the other.

Translations

group of whales

Finnish: parvi (fi)

Swahili: ufizi (sw)

Verb

gam (third-person singular simple present gams, present participle gamming, simple past and past participle gammed)

1. (nautical) To make a social visit on another ship at sea.

Etymology 3

From the Irish gám.

Noun

gam (plural gams)

1. (Ireland) Alternative spelling of gom. A silly, foolish person.

References

• “gams” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001

Anagrams

• AGM
• gma
• mag

---

Bandjalang

Noun

gam

1. (Wahlubal) hair of the head

Synonyms

• guhndun

---

Scottish Gaelic

Pronoun

gam

1. me (direct object)

   A bheil thu gam chluinntinn? - Do you hear me?

2. them (direct object)

   Cha robh i gam faicinn. - She didn't see them.

Usage notes

• As me lenites the following word.
• As them used before words beginning with b, f, m or p; otherwise gan is used.

Related terms

• ga
• gad
• gan
• gar
• gur
• iad
• mi

---

Swedish

Noun

gam c.

1. a vulture or condor; scavenging birds living in Africa, Europe, Asia and America
2. (colloquial) someone who takes advantage of a demise or a bankruptcy, usually in a legal, but, for the affected people, offensive way

   Innan konkurshandlingarna ens var undertecknade samlades gamarna i verkstaden för att se vad som var värt att sälja vidare

Declension

Declension of gam

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gam	gamen	gamar	gamarna
genitive	gams	gamens	gamars	gamarnas

---

Turkish

Noun

gam

1. sorrow

See also

• envâ-ı gam
• kaygılar

---

Vietnamese

Wikipedia ^vi

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡæm/

Noun

gam

1. gram (unit of mass)

This Vietnamese entry was created from the translations listed at gram. It may be less reliable than other entries, and may be missing parts of speech or additional senses. Please also see gam in the Vietnamese Wiktionary. This notice will be removed when the entry is checked. (more information) April 2008