spam

1 of 3

noun

ˈspam 

: unsolicited usually commercial messages (such as emails, text messages, or Internet postings) sent to a large number of recipients or posted in a large number of places

spam

2 of 3

verb

spammed; spamming

transitive verb

: to send or post spam to

spammed customers with discount offers

spamming a message board

intransitive verb

: to send or post spam

The company was accused of spamming via text messages.

spammer noun

Spam

3 of 3

trademark

—used for a canned meat product

Examples of spam in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Users also retain the power to unsubscribe, block senders and hit the spam button. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 7 Sep. 2026

There’s a brief pause, and then my phone goes haywire, inundated with Bluetooth signal spam — new Airpods connections, contact requests, an avalanche of popups that make my phone basically unusable until Hedge shuts it off. — Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 31 Aug. 2026

Verb

Future messages from that sender can then be routed to spam based on your preference. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 7 Sep. 2026

The goal is to kill the incentive to spam in the first place, while also cutting out the résumé-screening stage entirely—a step Chait says is riddled with bias and adds roughly six days to the hiring process for little real benefit. — Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 27 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

from a skit on the British television series Monty Python's Flying Circus in which chanting of the word Spam overrides the other dialogue

First Known Use

Noun

1990, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1994, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing spam

• anti-spam
• spam filter

Rhymes for spam

• am
• bam
• cham
• clam
• damme
• damn
• dram
• flam
• fram
• gram
• ham
• jam

Kids Definition

spam

1 of 2 noun

ˈspam 

: unsolicited usually commercial email sent to a large number of addresses

spam

2 of 2 verb

: to send spam to

spammer noun