gam

noun (1)

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\ ˈgam

Definition of gam

(Entry 1 of 3)

slang

: leg

gam

noun (2)

Definition of gam (Entry 2 of 3)

1 : a visit or friendly conversation at sea or ashore especially between whalers

2 : a school of whales

gam

verb

gammed; gamming

Definition of gam (Entry 3 of 3)

intransitive verb

: to engage in a gam (see gam entry 2 sense 1)

transitive verb

1 : to have a gam with (see gam entry 2 sense 1)

2 : to spend or pass (time) talking

Did you know?

Verb

But what is a gam? You might wear out your index-finger running up and down the columns of dictionaries, and never find the word. So says the narrator, who calls himself Ishmael, of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. These days you will indeed find "gam" entered in dictionaries; Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines the noun "gam" as "a visit or friendly conversation at sea or ashore especially between whalers." (It can also mean "a school of whales.") Melville’s narrator explains that when whaling ships met far out at sea, they would hail one another and the crews would exchange visits and news. English speakers have been using the word gam to refer to these and similar social exchanges since the mid-19th century.

History and Etymology for gam

Noun (1)

originally in British underworld argot, probably going back to Lingua Franca gamba "leg," going back to Italian, going back to Late Latin — more at jamb

Noun (2)

perhaps short for gammon entry 5

Verb

derivative of gam entry 2