1
: a rotating or sliding piece (such as an eccentric wheel or a cylinder with an irregular shape) in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion or vice versa
2
: camshaft
an engine with a single overhead cam
: camera
especially
: video camera
1
computer-aided manufacturing
2
complementary and alternative medicine
Examples of cam in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Cheryl Fenton, Parents, 4 May 2024
Using police reports, traffic cams and hospital records, dispatcher Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) pieced together that her fiancé contracted viral encephalitis on the job, swelling his brain with potentially fatal consequences.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024
And after Thursday, when the new peregrine nest cam went live, it also will be known as a stage for the world’s fastest bird.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 3 May 2024
Read Next ‘Golden’ predator — the source of legends — caught on trail cam in Thailand.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 2 May 2024
Police recovered a dash cam video from the vehicle which showed a black Nissan Murano stop at a traffic light at the intersection of Old York Road and Cheltenham Avenue.
—Greg Wehner, Fox News, 15 Apr. 2024
Body cam footage released by the Tacoma Police Department on Facebook Tuesday, April 9, shows officers sprinting through what appears to be a park area before jumping into the frigid waters of Wapato Lake.
—Charmaine Patterson, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
See the trail cam footage: The U.S. Forest Service said in a Facebook post Tuesday that, despite their name and large size, Allegheny woodrats are more closely related to mice and there are only about 100,000 left in the wild.
—Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024
In 2022, the live cam of their nest got over 70,000 viewers.
—Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024
Noun
Co-created by a pediatrician, the cam is extremely user-friendly.
—Cheryl Fenton, Parents, 4 May 2024
Using police reports, traffic cams and hospital records, dispatcher Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) pieced together that her fiancé contracted viral encephalitis on the job, swelling his brain with potentially fatal consequences.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024
And after Thursday, when the new peregrine nest cam went live, it also will be known as a stage for the world’s fastest bird.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 3 May 2024
Read Next ‘Golden’ predator — the source of legends — caught on trail cam in Thailand.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 2 May 2024
Police recovered a dash cam video from the vehicle which showed a black Nissan Murano stop at a traffic light at the intersection of Old York Road and Cheltenham Avenue.
—Greg Wehner, Fox News, 15 Apr. 2024
Body cam footage released by the Tacoma Police Department on Facebook Tuesday, April 9, shows officers sprinting through what appears to be a park area before jumping into the frigid waters of Wapato Lake.
—Charmaine Patterson, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
See the trail cam footage: The U.S. Forest Service said in a Facebook post Tuesday that, despite their name and large size, Allegheny woodrats are more closely related to mice and there are only about 100,000 left in the wild.
—Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024
In 2022, the live cam of their nest got over 70,000 viewers.
—Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cam.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near cam
Cite this Entry
“Cam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cam. Accessed 10 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cam
1 of 2 noun
: a device by which circular motion may be transformed into stop-and-start or back-and-forth motion
cam
2 of 2 nounEtymology
Noun
perhaps from French came "cam," from German Kamm, literally, "comb"
Medical Definition
CAM
abbreviation2
complementary and alternative medicine
According to a 2002 survey by the National Center for Health Statistics, 36 percent of adults in the United States used some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), including naturopathy, relaxation techniques, chiropractic, yoga, massage, and diets.—In-Sung Yoo, The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware)
In-Sung Yoo, The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware)Geographical Definition
Cam
geographical name
river 40 miles (64 kilometers) long in Cambridgeshire, east central England, flowing into the Ouse River
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