ram

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈram 

1

a

: a male sheep

b

Ram : aries

2

a

: battering ram

b

: a warship with a heavy beak at the prow for piercing an enemy ship

3

: any of various guided pieces for exerting pressure or for driving or forcing something by impact: such as

a

: the plunger of a hydrostatic press or force pump

b

: the weight that strikes the blow in a pile driver

ram

2 of 4

verb

rammed; ramming

intransitive verb

1

: to strike with violence : crash

2

: to move with extreme rapidity

transitive verb

1

: to force in by or as if by driving

2

a

: to make compact (as by pounding)

b

: cram, crowd

3

: to force passage or acceptance of

ram home an idea

4

: to strike against violently

rammer noun

RAM

3 of 4

noun (2)

ˈram 

: a computer memory on which data can be both read and written and on which the location of data does not affect the speed of its retrieval

especially : RAM that acts as the main storage available to the user for programs and data

called also random-access memory

compare rom

ramming effect

4 of 4

noun (3)

variants or ramming

plural -s

: ram effect

Synonyms of ram

Verb

• bump
• bang
• collide
• slam
• smash
• crash

Examples of ram in a Sentence

Verb

They deliberately rammed my car from behind.

The car slid and rammed against the wall.

He deliberately rammed his car into mine.

She rammed her fist against the wall in anger.

She rammed the cork into the barrel.

He opened the chute and rammed the clothes down.

Noun (2)

My computer is slow because it needs more RAM.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Taylor was shot in her bed by Louisville police officers executing a no-knock raid and using a battering ram to break into her apartment. — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026

These included more than 30 rams (four grand slams of American mountain sheep and four Old World species), an even dozen moose, more than a dozen black bears, two grizzlies, at least 18 elk, 17 caribou and several species of deer. — John Madson, Outdoor Life, 1 July 2026

Verb

The Department of Homeland Security alleges Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle and tried to run over an officer. — Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026

Lawmakers cited Washington Post reporting that passengers in the vehicle said Salgado Araujo didn’t ram his vehicle into Immigration and Customs Enforcement but that immigration officers came in and started shooting from both sides. — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 10 July 2026

Noun

More than three-quarters of SK Hynix's revenue comes from RAM, including HBM. — Kif Leswing,katie Tarasov, CNBC, 9 July 2026

Notably, because of this reduction in RAM, this version does not qualify as a Copilot+ PC. — Joe Osborne, PC Magazine, 9 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English ramm; akin to Old High German ram

Verb

Middle English rammen, probably from ram, noun

Noun (2)

random-access memory

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1519, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun (2)

1957, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing ram

• battering ram
• force/ram/shove (something) down someone's throat
• ram-raiding
• ram (something) home

Rhymes for ram

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

Kids Definition

ram

1 of 3 noun

ˈram 

1

: a male sheep

2

: battering ram

ram

2 of 3 verb

rammed; ramming

1

: to strike or strike against with violence : crash

2

: to force in, down, or through by or as if by driving or pressing

rammer noun

RAM

3 of 3 noun

ˈram 

: a computer memory that acts as the main storage available to the user for programs and data compare ROM

Medical Definition

ram

noun

ˈram 

: a male sheep