a sweet, sticky spread made from fruit boiled with sugar.
I spread jam on my toast for breakfast.
The kids love jam sandwiches.
✦ Early 18th century, probably from the verb sense of pressing or squeezing fruit.
a mass of vehicles or people unable to move because they are crowded too closely together.
There is a jam on the freeway.
The elevator got stuck in a people jam.
to become unable to move or to make something unable to move by squeezing it into a tight space or causing a blockage.
Don't jam all your clothes into one bag.
The door jammed shut during the storm.
✦ Early 18th century: probably imitative, suggesting the abrupt stopping motion.
to play music enthusiastically in an informal group, often improvising.
The band loves to jam late into the night.
We jammed some blues tunes at the party.
becoming stuck or squeezed tightly into a space so that movement is difficult or impossible
The printer keeps jamming with paper.
Traffic is jamming up the highway.
become stuck or cause something to become stuck by pressing it tightly into too small a space.
The printer suddenly jammed right before the meeting.
She jammed all her clothes into the suitcase at the last minute.
✦ The verb 'jam' first appeared around 1719 meaning to squeeze or press tightly, possibly imitative of the sound of something sticking abruptly or related to 'jam' as a crushed mass.
