jamb

Pluraljambs

Formsjambs, jambing, jambed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   Either of the upright pieces that form the side of an opening in a wall, such as a doorway, window, or fireplace.

   The carpenter checked that each jamb sat perfectly vertical before hanging the door.

   Cracks had formed where the window jambs met the sill.

   Similarpost, upright, doorpost

   Note

   A leg in disguise: Old French jambe meant "leg," and the upright pieces of a doorway or window stand like the legs of the opening. In carpentry the jamb does real work. The door or sash closes against it, and hinges, stops and casing are fastened to it. The word usually travels with the opening it belongs to: door jamb, window jamb, fireplace jamb.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   In mining, a thick body of rock that blocks the way and keeps miners from following a lode or vein.

   After weeks of steady progress, the crew struck a jamb that hid the vein entirely.

   Drilling through the jamb took longer than mining the ore itself.

   Note

   A miner's word for an obstacle. The rock is barren and carries no ore, so the crew must drive through it or around it before the vein can be picked up again beyond. Where the doorway upright frames a passage, this jamb blocks one, and in mining talk it is something to get past rather than something to build.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A piece of armor designed to protect the leg.

   The squire polished the jamb until the steel gleamed.

   A well-fitted jamb let the soldier march for miles without chafing his shin.

   Similarjambeau

   Note

   Here the French word for "leg" is closest to the surface, naming the armor that covered it. It turns up almost always in the plural and in steel, as in "his steel jambs." The Surrey Archaeological Collections of 1907 glosses it as "steel jambs, or greaves." Jambeau is the fuller form of the same word, and its origin is told under the doorway upright.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To fix or attach a jamb to the side of a door, window, or other opening.

   Carpenters jamb the opening with timber before fitting the door.

   They jamb every frame carefully so the hinges sit true.

   Similarframe

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