cam

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈkam 

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

cam

2 of 3

noun (2)

: camera

especially : video camera

CAM

3 of 3

abbreviation

1

computer-aided manufacturing

2

complementary and alternative medicine

Examples of cam in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Niagara Falls, New York, live cam Watch snow and ice build around Niagara Falls as frigid winds sweep across the water. —Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 23 Feb. 2026

Police requested anyone with dash-cam footage of the crash or the vehicles before the crash to contact Trooper Caleb Somerville at 219-696-6242. —Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Feb. 2026

Anyone with information or dash-cam footage of the crash or the vehicles before the crash is asked to contact Trooper Somerville at 219-696-6242. —Jeramie Bizzle, CBS News, 21 Feb. 2026

In between performances, guests traveled with lychee martinis in hand underneath the scarlet red luminaire, past cherry blossom trees, and to a hors d’oeuvres table laden with jiaozi, bánh cam, and mochi. —Savannah Hanoum, Vogue, 20 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

perhaps from French came, from German Kamm, literally, comb, from Old High German kamb

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1777, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1969, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing cam

• body cam
• cam girl
• cam wheel
• dash cam

Rhymes for cam

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

Kids Definition

cam

1 of 2 noun

ˈkam 

: a device by which circular motion may be transformed into stop-and-start or back-and-forth motion

cam

2 of 2 noun

: camera sense 2

Etymology

Noun

perhaps from French came "cam," from German Kamm, literally, "comb"

Medical Definition

CAM

abbreviation

1

cell adhesion molecule

2

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)

Geographical Definition

Cam

geographical name

ˈkam 

river 40 miles (64 kilometers) long in Cambridgeshire, east central England, flowing into the Ouse River