gammon

1 of 5

noun (1)

gam·​mon ˈga-mən 

1

chiefly British : ham sense 2

2

chiefly British

a

: a side of bacon

b

: the lower end of a side of bacon

gammon

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noun (2)

1

archaic : backgammon

2

: the winning of a backgammon game before the loser removes any men from the board

gammon

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verb (1)

gammoned; gammoning; gammons

transitive verb

: to beat by scoring a gammon

gammon

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verb (2)

gammoned; gammoning; gammons

intransitive verb

1

: to talk gammon

2

: pretend, feign

transitive verb

: deceive, fool

gammon

5 of 5

noun (3)

: talk intended to deceive

Synonyms

Verb (2)

• bamboozle
• beguile
• bluff
• buffalo
• burn
• catch
• con
• cozen
• deceive
• delude
• dupe
• fake out
• fool
• gaff
• gull
• have
• have on [chiefly British]
• hoax
• hoodwink
• hornswoggle
• humbug
• juggle
• misguide
• misinform
• mislead
• snooker
• snow
• spoof
• string along
• suck in
• sucker
• take in
• trick

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Her ham in cola is a treasure of a dish that calls for boiling a gammon in two liters of Coca-Cola, with an onion chucked in for mellow savoriness. —New York Times, 8 Dec. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

assimilated form of earlier gambon, borrowed from Anglo-French gamboun, jaumbeun, from gambe, jambe "hock of a horse, leg" + -on, diminutive or particularizing suffix, going back to Latin -ō, -ōn-, suffix of persons with a prominent feature — more at jamb

Noun (2)

probably shortened from backgammon

Verb (1)

derivative of gammon entry 2

Verb (2)

derivative of gammon entry 5

Noun (3)

argot word, earlier in sense "criminal accomplice who distracts a victim during a robbery," of uncertain origin

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1699, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

1668, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

1781, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (3)

1781, in the meaning defined above