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ham1

Pronunciation: /ham/

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Definition of ham

noun

1 [mass noun] salted or smoked meat from the upper part of a pig’s leg:thin slices of ham [count noun]:a honey-baked ham

2 (hams) the back of the thigh or the thighs and buttocks:he squatted down on his hams

Origin:

Old English ham, hom (originally denoting the back of the knee), from a Germanic base meaning 'be crooked'. In the late 15th century the term came to denote the back of the thigh, hence the thigh or hock of an animal