hamn.1adj.
/ham/, U.S. /hæm/ A. n.1
I. A part of the body.
1.
a. That part of the leg at the back of the knee; the hollow or bend of the knee.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > thigh > [noun] > back of
hamc1000
hockshinc1394
houghc1400
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > knee > [noun] > back of
hamc1000
knee-boardc1425
hough?a1513
houx1555
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 160/13 Poples, hamm.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 68 Monegum men gescrincað his fet to his homme.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 68 gebeþe þa hamma mid þam stan baðe.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 100 Wið hommen ifalden.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 360/42 Þe senewes in his hamme schronken.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1541 His cnes cachchez to close and cluchches his hommes.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 295 Loke in his hamme, vnder his knee.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 228/2 Hamme of the legge, jarret.
1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 921 We must not suppose that he doth sit with bended hammes.
1679 C. Cotton Confinement 31 With supple ham, and pliant knee.
1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod iii. v. 210 He hangs by his hams upon a pole.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic x. 255 He broke it to pieces by the tendons of his hams.
b. By extension: The back of the thigh; the thigh and buttock collectively. Usually in plural.
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Hamme, femur.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie H 55 The vtter part of the thighe, the hamme, femur.
1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads xiii. 190 He cannot without trembling quiet sit, But dances on his Hams, and changes hue.
1793 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) II. 452 They sit on their hams, with their legs and arms disposed in the manner of monkeys.
1875 F. Hall in Lippincott's Monthly Mag. 16 753/1 Squatting on their hams at respectful distance.
c. In quadrupeds: The back of the hough; the hough.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [noun] > limb > fore limb or leg > hock > back of hock
ham1607
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 407 A kind of scab breeding in the ham, which is the bent of the hough.
1678 Spanish Hist. ii. 156 To cut the hammes of the Mules of the Coach.
1735 W. Somervile Chace i. 250 His [a hound's] round Cat Foot, Strait Hams, and wide-spread Thighs..confess his Speed.
2. The thigh of a slaughtered animal, used for food; spec. that of a hog salted and dried in smoke or otherwise; also, the meat so prepared.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > part or joint of animal > [noun] > leg or thigh
pestlea1425
leg?c1425
gigot1526
gybot1597
ham1650
leg joint1825
skinka1918
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > pork > [noun] > ham
gammon?1521
skink1630
ham1650
schinkel1654
jambon1655
bacon-ham1796
schinken1848
Yorkshire ham1849
prosciutto crudo1855
picnic ham1890
prosciutto1891
York ham1897
Bradenham1906
short-cut1906
Prague ham1909
picnic1910
Parma ham1937
Black Forest1961
1650 J. Row & J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 324 Mr. Henrie Blyth had such antipathie aganis an ham, that no sooner did he heare a ham spoken of but he swarfed.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 14. ⁋8 A Jew eat me up half a Ham of Bacon.
1712 M. Prior Extempore Invit. 4 If they can dine On bacon-ham, and mutton-chine.
1734 W. Snelgrave Acct. Guinea 210 Several Westphalia Hams, and a large Sow.
1775 B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida 331 I purchased some bear, bacon and venison hams of them.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. vi. 83 A smoked mutton-ham.
1854 W. M. Thackeray Rose & Ring xiv She took out..some slices of ham.
II. Someone who is inexpert or amateur.
3.
a. [Apparently short for hamfatter n. at Compounds 2.] An inexpert performer; (also ham actor, ham actress) an ineffective or over-emphatic actor, one who rants or overacts. slang (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > actor > [noun] > actor by manner of performance
tear-mouth1616
tear-throat1620
spouter1750
stick1801
gagger1871
facialist1877
fake1880
hamfatter1880
ham1882
mugger1892
ham-bone1893
upstager1933
rhubarber1953
1882 Illustr. Sporting & Dramatic News 23 Dec. 355/2 ‘Banjo Hams’ are held up to scorn.
1882 Illustr. Sporting & Dramatic News 23 Dec. 355/2 One writer proudly describes himself as ‘no ham, but a classical banjo player’.
1903 S. Clapin New Dict. Amer. 220 Ham, in theatrical parlance, a tenth-rate actor or variety performer.
1911 Hampton's Mag. Aug. 178/1 It was the voice of what is known as a ‘ham’, because Shakespeare once wrote a play. A ‘ham’ actor.
1926 H. C. Witwer Roughly Speaking 223 Ham actors get a extra split week at a picture house if their fearful monologs put the ladies on the broiler.
1928 Daily Express 20 June 9/4 Sophie Tucker will, in all probability, appear in a revue next autumn... ‘You have never seen me in revue,’ Sophie reminded me, ‘I am a ham actor too, you know.’
1933 ‘I. Hay’ & ‘A. Armstrong’ Orders are Orders ii. 51 ‘We'd better have Harvey..to double for him.’..‘That old ham actor?’
1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas xviii. 200 Just one of these ham actors that's jealous of a fellow's screen genius.
1941 E. Wilson Wound & Bow i. 61 Dickens had a strain of the ham in him, and, in the desperation of his later life, he gave in to the old ham and let him rip.
1947 N. Marsh Final Curtain xii. 179 A squalid little ham actress.
1957 V. J. Kehoe Technique Film & Television Make-up i. 15 The expression ‘ham’ actor originated from those performers who rubbed ham rind on their faces as a base for their colored powders when they could not afford the more expensive and less odoriferous oils.
1958 Times 16 Apr. 3/2 ‘He thought I was an old ham,’ says Miss Seyler indulgently.
b. An inexpert or over-theatrical performance; ham acting. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > [noun] > over-acting > instance of
ham1942
1942 R. Chandler High Window (1943) xxx. 195 Don't feed me the ham. I've been in pictures. I'm a connoisseur of ham.
1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Feb. 95/3 Charles Dickens..saw Lemaître in his late period and was swept off his feet, but what he says might apply equally well to ham acting. In fact, it sounds suspiciously like ham.
1959 Listener 28 May 954/2 The mummer who thinks that all acting before his time was ‘ham’.
4. An amateur telegraphist; now esp. an amateur radio operator. slang (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [noun] > radio operator > amateur
radio amateur1916
ham1919
radio ham1922
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telegraphy > [noun] > telegraph operator
telegrapher1794
telegraphist1817
puncher1876
key worker1884
sounder1887
cabler1890
space-telegrapher1899
Marconist?1900
key man1901
wireless operator1902
wirer1916
ham1919
1919 C. H. Darling Jargon Bk. 17 Ham, a student telegraph operator.
1922 Glasgow Herald 18 Aug. 6 Any person who passes a test prescribed by the Government can obtain a licence to ‘send’ radio messages in the United States, and in popular parlance one who has qualified and taken this ‘Radio Operator Amateur—First Grade’ certificate is dubbed a ‘ham’.
1928 Collier's 22 Sept. 26 The amateur radio ‘hams’ have the ends of the earth for neighbors.
1929 Amer. Speech 4 288 At either end of a wire an unskillful operator is a ‘lid’, ‘ham’, ‘bum’ or ‘plug’.
1936 Daily Herald 19 Sept. 7/5 (advt.) Do you ever hear the ‘hams’? It appears that ‘hams’ is American for amateur radio transmitters... Of course, the ‘hams’ use the short wavelengths.
1955 Sci. News Let. 19 Mar. 188/2 Now it will be easier for a blind person to qualify for a license as a radio ‘ham’.
1957 Oxf. Mail 9 Nov. 4/5 The Russians invited radio ‘hams’ throughout the world to send details to Radio Magazine, Moscow, of reception from their satellites.
1967 New Scientist 11 May 322/3 The army of radio ‘hams’, who reach out over fantastic distances with their single sideband transmitters and receivers, are about to be reinforced.
1973 D. Lees Rape of Quiet Town vi. 90 He'd heard the radio ham speaking into a microphone.
III. Someone who is incompetent.
5. [Partly < ham-fisted, -handed adjectives.] An incompetent boxer or fighter. U.S. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > boxing > [noun] > boxer > types of
bruiser1744
ruffian1791
in-fighter1812
punisher1812
nobber1821
receiver general1821
slogger1829
slogster1881
ham1888
slaughterer1896
pushover1908
bum1917
mauler1920
palooka1920
round heel1926
set-up1926
powder puff1931
spoiler1948
kick-boxer1978
stiff1989
1888 Missouri Repub. 27 Mar. (Farmer) He is a good fighter but will allow the veriest ham to whip him.
1929 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 14 Dec. 144/3 They want me to slug with this big ham.
B. adj.
1. Characteristic of or relating to a ham actor or an inexpert performer; self-consciously theatrical. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > [adjective] > over-acting
hammy1929
ham1935
hamming1946
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > actor > [adjective] > type of actor by performance
tear-cat1606
Roscian1607
buffo1789
stickish1810
Protean1871
glimmery1892
hammy1929
ham1935
pixilated1959
1935 H. Williams 4 Years Old Vic xi. 186 Young players to-day are scared of being what they call ‘ham’, which I suppose is an abbreviation of what used to be termed ‘ham-bone’.
1938 Evening Standard 26 July 7/2 We hear a great deal about ‘ham’ acting nowadays. As far as I can judge, ‘ham’ acting is the habit of rolling sonorous speeches round the tongue and delivering them with extravagant relish to the gallery.
1944 W. H. Auden Sea & Mirror iii. 56 The schmalz tenor never quite able at his big moments to get right up nor the ham bass right down.
1958 B. Nichols Sweet & Twenties xvii. 231 His conception of aristocracy was strangely out of date, and more than a little ‘ham’.
1958 Observer 4 May 15/7 It is one of the most extraordinary exhibitions of ham acting I've ever seen.
2. [Partly < ham-fisted, -handed adjectives.] Clumsy, ineffective, incompetent. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > awkward or inept
unrekena1325
untoward1557
unfeatya1586
unhappy1651
ungaina1657
unadept1830
jackleg1833
jack-legged1839
inapt1860
inadept1875
unpractical1890
raunchy1937
stumblebum1940
ham1941
1941 M. Allingham Traitor's Purse xii. 133 Campion's thin hands remained expressionless and Lugg's great ham-fists did not stir.
1942 A. S. Forbes & H. R. Allen Ten Fighter Boys p. xv What he obviously intended to do on overshooting me was to flick over and spin down, but being a little ham, he overdid the manœuvre and came the right way up.
1942 A. S. Forbes & H. R. Allen Ten Fighter Boys 84 I didn't stay to argue, but went bowling down in the hammest manner possible.
1949 ‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar xiv. 124 He was..reluctant to submit that tender mouth to the ham hands of a Westerner.
1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Feb. 71/1 Nothing he hated more than ‘ham’ writing and ‘prefabricated’ characters.
Phrases
ham and beef n. Rhyming slang the chief warder in a prison.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prisoner > [noun] > official in charge of prison
wardenc1330
governor1753
housemaster1931
ham and beef1941
1941 J. Phelan Murder by Numbers iv. 46 There's the ham-and-beef and tickety-boo making rounds.
1962 John o' London's 25 Jan. 82/2 A chief warder or prison officer is known in rhyming slang as a ham and beef.
ham and eggs n. a dish consisting of fried ham and eggs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > meat dishes > [noun] > ham or bacon dishes > bacon and eggs
collop1362
collops and eggs1542
bacon and eggs1709
ham and eggs1837
1837 W. H. Wills Jrnl. in S. Hist. Assoc. Pub. VI. 473 They gave me fryed ham and eggs and biscuit, bread & Coffee.
1838 C. Dickens Let. 1 Feb. (1965) I. 366 We have had for breakfast,..ham and eggs.
1967 C. Drummond Death at Furlong Post iii. 31 ‘Get me ham and eggs,’ he said.
Compounds
C1. attributive and in other combinations.
ham-curing n.
ΚΠ
1907 Daily Chron. 23 Oct. 4/4 Spinning, or bread~baking, or ham-curing.
ham-pie n.
ΚΠ
1733 A. Pope 1st Satire 2nd Bk. Horace Imitated 9 None deny..D—ty his Ham-Pye.
ham-sandwich n.
ΚΠ
1847 J. S. Coyne How to settle Accts. with Laundress 6 We used to go together to Greenwich, with a paper of ham sandwiches in my basket.
1866 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. from Hawaii (1967) 68 The Sandwich Islanders always squat on their hams, and who knows but they may be the old original ‘ham sandwiches’?
1871 ‘L. Carroll’ Through Looking-glass vii. 141 I fed him with—with—with Ham-sandwiches and Hay.
1880 J. Ruskin Our Fathers have told Us i. i If he has bought his ham-sandwich, and is ready for the ‘En voiture, messieurs’.
1972 B. Everitt Cold Front xv. 145 The boy..sat between us, polishing off a gigantic ham sandwich.
ham-smoker n.
ΚΠ
1829 T. Hook Bank to Barnes 164 Ham-smoker, and pork-butcher.
C2.
ham-beetle n. one of several American beetles whose larvæ are destructive to hams, esp. Corynetes (Necrobia) rufipes, the red-legged ham-beetle.
ΚΠ
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) vi. 46 The old-established Ham and Beef Shop.
hamfatter n. U.S. slang an ineffective actor or performer; (also hamfat) a mediocre jazz musician; so hamfat man, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > actor > [noun] > actor by manner of performance
tear-mouth1616
tear-throat1620
spouter1750
stick1801
gagger1871
facialist1877
fake1880
hamfatter1880
ham1882
mugger1892
ham-bone1893
upstager1933
rhubarber1953
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > [noun] > jazz musician > types of
faker1903
swing man1903
honky-tonker1910
Chicagoan1924
stomper1925
Dixielander1927
modernist1932
swinger1934
ride man1935
all-star1937
swingster1937
hamfat1938
mouldy fig1945
traditionalist1949
trad1951
West Coaster1954
mainstreamer1961
soulster1961
New Thinger1964
1880 G. A. Sala Amer. Revisited (1882) I. iv. 66 Every American who does not wish to be thought ‘small potatoes’ or a ‘ham-fatter’ or a ‘corner loafer’.
1889 Cent. Dict. Hamfatter,..a term of contempt for an actor of a low grade, as a negro minstrel. Said to be derived from an old-style negro song called ‘The Ham-fat Man’.
1932 ‘Spindrift’ Yankee Slang 20 Hamfatter, loudly-dressed and loudly-decorated dude.
1938 N.Y. Amsterdam News 12 Mar. 17 The Harlem Hamfats grind out the tune.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues 58 A lot of beat up old hamfats..sang and played.
1959 S. B. Charters Country Blues 86 The singing of these little ‘hamfat’ bands never reached the artistic intensity of men like Blind Lemon.
1966 New Yorker 11 June 160/2 Most of the musicians playing in these clubs are old men... They're hamfat musicians. In the old days, the rough musicians kept pieces of ham fat in their pockets to grease the slides of their trombones.
ham-fisted adj. having large or clumsy hands, heavy-handed, awkward; bungling.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > clumsy or awkward > clumsy with the hands
handless1483
left-handed1579
butterfingered1615
heavy-handeda1634
thumbless1648
unhandy1669
mutton-fisted1737
two-fisted1774
numb-handed1849
butterfingers1851
buttery-fingered1853
cack-handed1854
Marlborough-handed1893
thumb-fingered1903
thumby1909
ham-handed1918
ham-fisted1928
1928 Daily Mail 7 May 6/4 Ham Fisted.—Applied to pilots who are heavy on controls, or generally clumsy.
1928 Sunday Express 24 June 8/3 Two thousand lumber-jacks were in town, ham-fisted great fellows with hair on their chests and pine needles growing out of their ears.
1938 ‘C. S. Forester’ Ship of Line 51 God damn and blast all you hamfisted yokels.
1942 H. R. Allen in A. S. Forbes & H. R. Allen Ten Fighter Boys 15 A dog-fight with a Hun very rarely entails a considered aerobatic movement as an evasive action. In fact, the more ham-fisted the movement, the better its effect.
1960 Times 20 Oct. 8/1 The play's basic idea implies a less ham-fisted humour than the authors can supply.
ham-fistedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adverb] > clumsily or awkwardly
unhagherlyc1175
unslyly?a1400
roughc1400
unslya1425
rudelyc1425
unhandsomely1545
grosslyc1550
untowardly?1550
botcherly?1566
bungerly1574
lubberlike1575
lumpishly1583
clouterly1593
lubberly1594
foggily1599
awkly1603
unwieldilyc1610
cumbersomely1611
uneasily1611
sinisterly1628
left-handedly1648
ungainlya1661
awkwardly1663
clumsily1691
uncleverly1697
wrong1727
unwieldly1793
gawkily1811
maladroitly1827
undexterously1848
flat-footedly1886
ham-fistedly1964
ham-handedly1964
1964 Punch 2 Sept. 355/1 Some ham-fistedly insensitive moments.
ham-fistedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > clumsiness or awkwardness > manual clumsiness
fumbling1562
butterfingers1859
ham-handedness1928
ham-fistedness1963
1963 Times 16 Feb. 9/3 The campaign cannot be written off because of the hamfistedness of its beginnings.
ham-footed adj. clumsy, awkward, stupid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > clumsy or awkward
stubblea1300
lubber?1515
awkward1530
unwieldy1530
lubberlike1572
unwieldsome1579
lubberly1580
looby1582
wieldy1588
clumsy1597
ungainly1611
unqueme1611
untowardly1611
clouter-likea1624
hip-shot1642
loobish1648
loobily1655
bumble-arsed1661
clouterly1675
lubbard1679
fumbling1681
sinistrousa1682
maladroit1685
shammockinga1704
ungain1710
splay-footed1716
gawky1759
hobbledehoyish1812
uncouthly1821
nunting1836
shammocky1841
numb1854
awkwardish1860
slummocky?1861
numb-footed1867
gawkish1876
flat-footed1899
brontosaurian1909
shamblya1937
slew-foot1945
ham-footed1960
klutzy1961
dorkus1979
1960 E. S. Higham & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby 26 One ‘ham-footed’ forward..makes a present of the ball to the other side.
1961 Sunday Express 7 May 14 Is he so thick-soled, ham~footed?
ham-handed adj. = ham-fisted adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > clumsy or awkward > clumsy with the hands
handless1483
left-handed1579
butterfingered1615
heavy-handeda1634
thumbless1648
unhandy1669
mutton-fisted1737
two-fisted1774
numb-handed1849
butterfingers1851
buttery-fingered1853
cack-handed1854
Marlborough-handed1893
thumb-fingered1903
thumby1909
ham-handed1918
ham-fisted1928
1918 W. A. Bishop Winged Warfare 30 First the instructor would tell me I was ‘ham-handed’—that I gripped the controls too tightly with every muscle tense.
1918 Punch 3 Apr. 222/2 Second P[ilot]... I was getting ham-handed and mutton-fisted, flapping the old things every day.
1930 C. Dixon Parachuting 93 The pilot with sensitive hands is a better pilot than one with non~sensitive hands. The latter are bluntly called ‘ham~handed’.
1934 E. Linklater Magnus Merriman 98 Are you trying to insult me, or is that your ham-handed idea of a compliment?
1946 Times 3 Dec. 8/3 There should be no ham-handed bulk purchasing of stuff which was not really wanted.
1958 New Statesman 12 Apr. 458/3 Much of the recipient's pleasure is taken away by the very ham-handed invitation.
ham-handedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adverb] > clumsily or awkwardly
unhagherlyc1175
unslyly?a1400
roughc1400
unslya1425
rudelyc1425
unhandsomely1545
grosslyc1550
untowardly?1550
botcherly?1566
bungerly1574
lubberlike1575
lumpishly1583
clouterly1593
lubberly1594
foggily1599
awkly1603
unwieldilyc1610
cumbersomely1611
uneasily1611
sinisterly1628
left-handedly1648
ungainlya1661
awkwardly1663
clumsily1691
uncleverly1697
wrong1727
unwieldly1793
gawkily1811
maladroitly1827
undexterously1848
flat-footedly1886
ham-fistedly1964
ham-handedly1964
1964 Economist 11 Apr. 168/1 The FMC has gone a bit hamhandedly about its job.
ham-handedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > clumsiness or awkwardness > manual clumsiness
fumbling1562
butterfingers1859
ham-handedness1928
ham-fistedness1963
1928 O. Stewart Aerobatics 50 One of the main objectives in finesse is the development of good ‘hands’... Ham-handedness is not often a gift of unkind fate; it is not necessarily incurable.
1963 Economist 8 June 1046/1 The Kennedy Administration has contributed its own moments of hamhandedness.
ham loaf n. originally U.S. a shaped mass of chopped cooked ham intended to be cut into slices.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > meat dishes > [noun] > meat loaf
meat loaf1892
loaf1895
ham loaf1902
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 558/2 Hamburger steak with onions, veal loaf, ham loaf.
1907 Daily Chron. 23 Sept. 7/5 Veal loaf, ham loaf, beef loaf.
ham-tail n. ? a (horse's) tail of a rounded shape like a ham.
ΚΠ
1705 London Gaz. No. 4183/4 A..Gelding..with a Ham Tail.
ham vein n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Veine iartiere, the garter veine, or hamme veine.
Draft additions February 2005
ham-and-egger n. U.S. slang (freq. depreciative) a person or thing regarded as average, mediocre, or (occasionally) stupid or inferior; spec. (esp. in early use) an average or incompetent boxer (cf. sense A. 5).
ΚΠ
1911 Chicago Tribune 27 Apr. 21/2 [Jack] Johnson started home on the Overland, but was switched at Omaha to a train he designated as a ‘ham and egger’.
1930 Amer. Mercury Jan. 104/2 G'wan beat it before I get up an' knock you two ham-an'-eggers down the stairs!
1968 Films in Rev. Dec. 647/2 The then heavyweight champion plays around in a staged ‘fight’ with a ham-n-egger from New Jersey.
1999 J. Grisham Testament 324 Because they were big-firm lawyers they quite naturally looked down upon the type of unethical behavior being..condoned by Grits and Bright and the other ham-and-eggers.
Draft additions March 2013
ham steak n. a (usually thick) slice of ham typically cooked by grilling or frying; (as a mass noun) ham prepared in this way.Now rare in British use; cf. gammon n.1 2b.
ΚΠ
1842 J. Close Bk. Chron. vii. 62 After partaking of a hearty breakfast, of a couple of eggs and a ham steak.
1859 Once a Week 24 Sept. 260/1 A ham steak cut from a raw ham of his own feeding and curing, and served up with a kind of gravy.
1900 Railway Conductor July 509/1 And when at Davies we arrive somewhat late, we all take a sandwich stuffed with ham steak.
1978 S. King Stand i. xxv. 181 Supper. Now there was a word, had there ever been a finer? Ham steaks and potatoes.
2009 P. Allington Figurehead 176 Trying to avoid going to bingo and mulling over whether..to eat the ham steak with pineapple rings or the lamb's fry with bacon.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
hamn.2
local.
A plot of pasture ground; in some places esp. meadow-land; in others spec. an enclosed plot, a close. Found in Old English, and still in local use in the south of England; in some places surviving only as the name of a particular piece of ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > pasture > enclosed pasture
ham901
green yard1418
pasture field1464
ward1473
butt1542
paddock1547
septuma1552
staff1786
camp1877
night paddock1922
run-off1933
901–9 Charter of Eadweard in Cod. Dipl. V. 166 Ðanon on gerihte to Scealdæmeres hamme.
?c1000 Cod. Dipl. V. 383 Ða hammas ða ðer mid rihte togebyriaþ.
1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas A Hamme or a little plot of ground growing by the riuers or Thames side, commonly crooked, and beset with many willow trees or osiers.
a1640 T. Risdon Chorogr. Surv. Devon (1811) (modernized text) 6 Between the North and the South Hams (for that is the ancient name) there lieth a chain of hills.
1702 London Gaz. No. 3838/4 The said Fair will be kept..upon a Place..called the Ham.
1796 W. Marshall Rural Econ. W. Eng. I. 33 The forests [would] be converted, by degrees, into common pastures, or hams.
1880 J. Williams Rights of Common 91 Within these two meadows were several hams or home closes of meadow.
1881 R. D. Blackmore Christowell (1882) iv The sheep~wash corner in the lower ham.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
hamn.3
The Old English hám home n.1 and adj., which, in compounds, has been shortened to ham, as in Hampstead, Hampton (:—Hámtún), Oakham, Lewisham, etc., and, in this form, is sometimes used by historical writers in the sense ‘town, village, or manor’ of the Old English period.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town, village, or collection of dwellings > [noun]
thorpc725
homeeOE
byc950
castlec1000
wickc1000
streeta1325
placec1390
plecka1576
bourgade1601
township1602
townreda1613
ville1837
vicus1842
ham1864
stad1896
1864 I. Taylor Words & Places (1882) 82 In the Anglo-Saxon charters we frequently find this suffix (ham) united with the names of families, never with those of individuals.
1872 E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 118 A separate homestead apart from the ham of the vill.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People i. §1. 3 The home or ‘ham’ of the Billings would be Billingham.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
† hamv.1
Obsolete. rare.
= hamstring v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > maiming or mutilation > maim or mutilate [verb (transitive)] > hamstring
hoxen1387
hox1388
houghc1440
to tie with St. Mary's knot1544
hock1570
hough-sinew1577
string-hough1605
ham1618
enervate1638
hockle1671
hamstring1675
1618 in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1849) (modernized text) II. 114 The bailiffs assaulted him in his coach, hammed his horses, and threatened no less unto himself.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
hamv.2
/ham/, U.S. /hæm/ slang.
To act in a ‘hammy’ manner, to over-act. Frequently const. up.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > act [verb (transitive)] > act in specific manner
misact1609
tragedize1755
overact1760
overplay1767
to walk through ——1824
underact1847
to play down to ——1880
routine1897
underplay1897
milk1921
ham1933
hoke1935
to camp it up1957
to play for laughs (also a laugh)1963
undercharacterize1970
1933 D. Stanley & J. P. Maxfield Voice 268 Hamming.
1937 L. Lewis Radio Dict. in Printers' Ink Monthly Apr. 54 Ham it, overacts [sic] for emphasis—bluster.
1944 L. A. G. Strong Director xxii. 166 What with toning my voice down to that kid's mewing, and then trying to balance that hamming bloody idiot.
1955 A. Huxley Genius & Goddess 16 The performance was on the corny side; but it was a sympathetic part and, though she dearly loved to ham it up, Beulah was not merely a treasure.
1955 T. Sterling Evil of Day ix. 110 ‘Any actor would give twenty years of his life to play the part.’..‘I thought if I told you what it was you'd ham it.’
1958 M. Dickens Man Overboard ii. 27 She had hammed her scene with the seducer at the final run through.
1965 Listener 18 Nov. 795/1 Marie Bell..hams it up in a smugly self-conscious cameo portrayal.
Derivatives
ˈhammed-up adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > [adjective] > over-acting > over-acted
overplayed1819
hammed-up1957
1957 Listener 12 Sept. 402/3 Nor does he purvey anything of Wales as it is—rather the hammed-up version of Wales that the stupider sort of Englishman prefers.
1973 E. Page Fortnight by Sea xii. 132 A hammed-up impression of a military man.
ˈhamming n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > [noun] > over-acting
overplaying1927
hamming1946
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > [adjective] > over-acting
hammy1929
ham1935
hamming1946
1946 Daily Tel. 18 Nov. 6/6 Thomas Mitchell, after a deal of recent hamming, is a convincing detective.
1957 Observer 10 Nov. 19/2 The temptation of second-feature hamming.
1960 S. H. Courtier Gently dust Corpse iii. 38 Hamming it now, thought Birch, and it's time they were brought to their senses.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1adj.c1000
n.2901
n.31864v.11618
v.21933