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ham2

Syllabification: (ham)

Pronunciation: /ham/

Translate ham | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

Definition of ham

noun

1an excessively theatrical actor:nobody gets to emote more than a ham on the witness stand
excessively theatrical acting.

2 informal an amateur radio operator.

verb (hams, hamming, hammed)

[no object] informal

overact:he was hamming it up, doing all the voices and the effects

Origin:

late 19th century: perhaps from the first syllable of amateur; compare with the slang term hamfatter 'inexpert performer.' ²sense 2 of the noun dates from the early 20th century