gam
/ɡæm/ noun, verb
Forms gams gamming gammed
- noun (slang, dated) A person's leg, especially an attractive woman's leg.
- noun (collective) A group of whales, or rarely also of other large sea animals; a pod.
- noun (by extension) A social gathering of whalers (whaling ships).
- verb (nautical, ambitransitive) To pay a social visit on another ship at sea.
- verb (US, dialect) To engage in social intercourse anywhere.
Etymology
From Italian gamba (“leg”). Doublet of gamb, gamba, jamb, and jambe. Compare gammon and ham.
Uncertain but surely formed within English; etymons may include game or gammon.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gam”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details