slam
/ˈslæm/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.02 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To put in or on a particular place with force and loud noise. (Often followed by a preposition such as down, against or into.)
Transitive verb
verb
To strike forcefully with some implement.
verb
To compete in a poetry slam.
Example Sentences
- "Don't slam the door!"
- "Britain’s borders: wide open to Covid, slammed shut for people in need [title]"
- "Don't slam that trunk down on the pavement!"
- "The New South Wales police commissioner has defended the officer who was filmed slamming an Indigenous boy face-first on to a pavement in Sydney, saying the officer “had a bad day”."
- "But Wolves went in front when Steven Fletcher headed in Stephen Hunt's cross and it was 2-0 when Geoffrey Mujangi Bia slammed in his first for the club."
- "The boat slammed into the bank and we were almost thrown into the river."
Etymology
From Middle English *slammen (not recorded), apparently from a Scandinavian source ultimately from Old Norse slæma, slœma (“to slam, swing a weapon, strike an object out of reach”), related to Old Norse slamra, slambra (“to slam”). Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål slamre (“to slam”), Swedish slamra (“to pound, beat, make a clatter, rattle”), Norwegian Nynorsk slamra (“to sway, dangle”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *slammen, slæma
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈslæm/
- British English: /ˈslæm/
Usage
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb
- Slang
- Colloquial
- American usage
- Informal
- Countable
- British usage