# ram

Pronunciation: say "RAM" /ɹæm/

## Noun · RAM

1. Short for random-access memory: a computer's main working memory, which holds the programs and data in use and can be read or written in any order. — Acronym of random-access memory.
   - Simple: Short for random-access memory: the part of a computer that holds the programs and data it is using right now.
   - _Upgrading the RAM made the old computer noticeably faster._
   - _Video editing software uses a lot of RAM when you work with large files._
14. Short for relative atomic mass: the average mass of an element's atoms, measured relative to one twelfth of the mass of a carbon-12 atom. — Acronym of relative atomic mass; sometimes styled r.a.m..
   - Simple: Short for relative atomic mass: average mass of an element's atoms compared with one twelfth of a carbon-12 atom's mass.
   - _The exam question gave the RAM of sodium and asked for the mass of two moles._
   - _Because chlorine has two common isotopes, its RAM is not a whole number._

## Noun

2. A male sheep, usually one that has not been castrated.
   - Simple: A male sheep, usually one that is able to father lambs.
   - _The farmer bought a new ram to improve the quality of his flock._
   - _Two rams clashed horns on the rocky hillside._
5. A battering ram, the heavy object used to force a way through doors.
   - Simple: A heavy tool driven against a door to force it open, also called a battering ram.
   - _Officers swung a steel ram against the door until the frame gave way._
   - _The attackers hauled a ram made from a tree trunk up to the castle doors._
9. A reinforced point on a warship's bow for striking other ships, or a warship built with one.
   - Simple: A strong point on the front of a warship used to smash into other ships, or a ship built with one.
   - _The ironclad ram struck the frigate below the waterline and sank her in minutes._
   - _During the war, both sides built rams to defend their river ports._
10. A piston moved by the pressure of a liquid in a hydraulic system.
   - Simple: A rod in a machine that moves in and out, pushed by liquid under pressure.
   - _When the pump starts, oil forces the ram out of its cylinder and the press closes._
   - _A leaking seal on the ram made the excavator's arm slowly drift downward._
12. An instance of ramming something, as in a deliberate collision or a heavy blow.
   - Simple: An act of crashing into or pushing hard against something.
   - _The destroyer's captain chose a ram rather than risk another torpedo miss._
   - _A single ram from the getaway car left the cruiser's door badly dented._
13. The heavy weight that delivers the blow in a ramming machine such as a pile driver, steam hammer, or stamp mill.
   - Simple: The heavy weight that strikes the blow in a machine that pounds things, like a pile driver.
   - _Each time the ram fell, the pile sank a few more inches into the riverbed._
   - _The stamp mill's iron rams crushed the ore into powder._

## Verb

3. To collide with something, usually with the aim of damaging it or putting it out of action.
   - Simple: To crash into something, usually on purpose, to damage it or stop it from working.
   - _The warship turned hard in an attempt to ram the enemy submarine._
   - _During the chase, the getaway car repeatedly rammed into the cruiser's rear bumper._
4. To force, cram, or thrust someone or something into or through something, literally or figuratively.
   - Simple: To push or force something hard into or through something, also used about forcing plans or ideas on people.
   - _Party leaders tried to ram the bill through before the summer recess._
   - _Voters are tired of having the same slogans rammed down their throats._
7. To drive, pound, or pack something down hard, as earth between forms, a post into the ground, or a charge into a gun barrel.
   - Simple: To push or pound something down hard so it is packed tight or fixed in place.
   - _Workers ram damp earth between wooden forms to build the thick walls._
   - _After setting the fence post upright, he rammed the gravel down around it with a heavy steel bar._
11. To thrust during sexual intercourse. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To push hard and fast during sex.
   - _The film cut away just as he began to ram harder and the bed frame creaked._
   - _Her review mocked the scene as two minutes of a man ramming away in silence._

## Proper noun · Ram

6. Another spelling of Rāma: the Hindu god, an incarnation of Vishnu and the hero of the epic Ramayana. — Alternative form of Rāma (“an incarnation of the god Vishnu in Hinduism”). (pronounced: say "RAHM" US /ɹɑm/, UK /ɹɑːm/)
   - Simple: Another spelling of Rāma: a Hindu god, the hero of the Ramayana story.
   - _Pilgrims travel to Ayodhya, the city linked with Ram, from across India._
   - _The priest began the evening prayers with a hymn to Ram._
8. Aries, either the constellation or the sign of the zodiac.
   - Simple: The group of stars called Aries, or the star sign with the same name.
   - _The astronomer pointed her telescope toward the Ram._
   - _Next month the planet moves out of the Ram and into the Bull._

## Adjective

15. Offensive in smell or taste, as rancid food is. *(dialectal, Northern England)*
   - Simple: Smelling or tasting bad, like food that has gone bad.
   - _There's a ram smell coming from the bin in the yard._
   - _Our mam said the butter was too ram to use, so she chucked it out._

## Other meanings

- (proper noun) A boy's or man's first name.
- (proper noun) A family name.
- (proper noun) Someone connected with Derby County Football Club, such as a supporter, player, or coach.
- (proper noun) Short for Royal Academy of Music: a conservatory in London, founded in 1822 and one of Britain's oldest music schools.
- (proper noun) A figure in the Bible, the son of Hezron and the father of Amminadab.
- (noun) Short for radar-absorbent material: a coating or material that absorbs radar waves, used to make aircraft, ships and other objects harder to detect.
- (proper noun) In Mandaeism, one of the two ancestors of the second generation of humankind.
- (noun) Short for random-access machine: in computer science, an abstract model of a computer, with memory cells that can each be reached in one step, used to analyze algorithms.
- (noun) Short for reliability availability maintainability: three engineering properties describing how reliably a system works, how often it is ready for use, and how easily it can be maintained or repaired.
- (noun) Short for responsibility assignment matrix: in project management, a chart showing which people or roles are responsible for each task or deliverable.
- (noun) An anti-tank weapon used by the United States in the Korean War.
- (proper noun) Short for Rise Above Movement: an American white supremacist street-fighting group formed in Southern California in the late 2010s.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 5, 9–10, 12–13** — Old English ramm ("ram") became Middle English ram, rom, ramme. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *rammaz ("ram"), which may itself come from *rammaz ("strong"). Cognates include German Ramm, Ramme, Dutch ram ("a male sheep"), and Saterland Frisian Rom. Possibly also akin are Icelandic rammur ("strong, sturdy"), Faroese ramur ("strong, competent"), Swedish ram ("strong, perfect"), and Danish ram ("sharp, acrid, rank").
**Meanings 3–4, 7, 11** — Middle English made the verb rammen out of the noun ram, and the modern verb descends from it. Old High German rammen is a similar word to compare.
**Meaning 15** — This sense probably comes from Old Norse ramr, rammr, meaning strong, rank, or bitter, which goes back to Proto-Germanic *rammaz ("strong, overbearing, acrid, rank"). It may in the end be related to the word for the animal. Compare Scots ram ("a rank odor") and Middle English rammish ("rank, offensive in smell").
**Meaning 8** — From ram, the male sheep: Aries is pictured as a ram, and Derby County's nickname reflects links with the Derby Militia's ram mascot and regimental song.
**Meaning 6** — Borrowed from Hindi राम (Rām), from Sanskrit राम (Rāma), the name of the god.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ram (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).