jam

jam

noun

Definition of JAM

1

a crowded mass (as of cars) that impedes or blocks movement <thousands of cars trying to leave the stadium's parking lot at the same time are sure to create a jam>

Synonyms backup, bottleneck, jam-up, logjam, snarl, tailback [British], tie-up

Related Words tangle; gridlock, lock; congestion, traffic; crawl, delay, slowdown, stoppage

2

a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape <the heavy rain puts us in a real jam: all of the preparations are for a garden wedding>

Synonyms bind, box, catch-22, corner, dilemma, fix, hole, impasse, jackpot [chiefly West], jam, mire, pickle, quagmire, rabbit hole, rattrap, spot, sticky wicket, swamp

Related Words difficulty, node; hot water, soup; pinch, plight, quandary, scrape, trouble; deadlock, halt, logjam, stalemate, standstill; clutch, crisis, crossroad, emergency, exigency, juncture, strait