▪ I. ram, n.1
(ræm)
Forms: 1 rom(m, 1–2 ramm, 4–7 ramme, 5–6 rame, rambe, 1– ram.
[OE. ram(m, rǫm(m = (M)Du., (M)LG., OHG. and MHG. ram (ramm-): cf. G. ramme rammer, naval ram. Perh. related to ON. ramm-r strong.]
1. a. A male sheep; in domestication, one kept for breeding purposes, a tup.
| c 825 Vesp. Ps. lxiv. 14 Ᵹeᵹerede sind rommas scepa. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxii. 13 Abraham..ᵹeseah þær anne ramm..be þæm hornum ᵹehæft. c 1200 Ormin 1136 Þe ramm wass offredd forr þe preost. 13.. K. Alisaunder 388 His heved, and his scholdron fram, He dyghte in forme of a ram. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 104 Ffor man ys hardy as a lyon..rebell as a rambe. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xxiii, They wente to the batayl ageyne and so hurtled to gyders lyke two rammes. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §39 The better shall the ewe take the ramme agayne. 1575 Turberv. Venerie 30 You must couple him with a ramme or a stoute Sheepe. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 594 Ev'n though a snowy Ram thou shalt behold, Prefer him not in haste, for Husband to thy Fold. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 411 The sturdy boy Holds by the twisted horns, the indignant Ram. 1790 T. Bewick Hist. Quadrup. (1792) 49 The Ram lives to the age of about fifteen years, and begins to procreate at one. 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 328 We would recommend the introduction of..English rams amongst the Indian ewe flocks. |
| fig. a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 157 To kepe..theyr spiritual lammes Sequestred from rammes. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg., St. Nicholas xi, Holy Church denieth all search 'Midst her sanctified ewes and her saintly rams. |
† b. As the reward given to the victor in a wrestling match.
Obs.| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 548 The Millere was a stout carl.., At wrastlynge he wolde haue alwey the Ram. c 1400 Gamelyn 184 Her be side, brother is cried a wrastlynge, And þer fore shal be sette a ram and a rynge. |
c. transf. A sexually aggressive man; a lecher.
colloq.| 1935 N. & Q. 23 Nov. 366/2 Ram, a male, sexual enthusiast. 1946 Penguin New Writing XXVIII. 185 ‘Yes, it's the Chalk all right,’ Willie said. ‘The old ram!’ he added, happily. 1977 J. Wainwright Do Nothin' till You hear from Me viii. 128 One day, May will rise up on the ram she has for a husband and pan him in the chops. |
2. Astron. (with cap.). The zodiacal sign
Aries.
| c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 307 Þe ys aries, þæt ys ram genemned. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 8 Whan..the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his half[e] cours yronne. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 18 Quhen conryet [read aryet] the hot syng coloryk, In to the Ram quhilk had his rowmys ryk. 1563 B. Googe Eglogs. i. (Arb.) 31 The Ram doth cause to spring, eche herbe and floure. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vi. 95 Here in the Zodiack begins The Ram, the Bull, the loving Twins. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 476 Till the new Ram receives th' exalted Sun. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 330 Between the square of Pegasus and the Bull we meet with two constellations, the Fishes and the Ram. |
3. a. = battering-ram.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxi. 160 Besittað hie utan..& ðerscað ðone weall mid rammum. c 1000 ælfric Gram. vi. (Z.) 12 Aries byð..ram to wealᵹeweorce. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. xii. 27 The barmkin law smait with the rammis fast. 1569 T. Stocker Diod. Sic. iii. viii. 113/2 He had also many other engines called Rammes very large and great to batter any wall. 1593 Donne Sat. ii. 19 Rammes, and slings now are silly battery. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Aries, Pliny assures us, the ram was invented at the siege of Troy. 1858 Greener Gunnery 5 A 68 lb. shot has all the force that could be given even to that famous ram of Vespasian. 1884 Manch. Exam. 14 Oct. 5/7 They brought planks, and by using them as rams, broke open one of the reserved doors. |
| fig. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. ii. 30 Let not the peece of Vertue which is set Betwixt vs,..be the Ramme to batter The Fortresse of it. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Panegyr. Sir L. Pemberton, The iron and rock, Which tryes, and counter⁓stands the shock, And ramme of time. 1829 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 47 Concede him this, and his ram swings freely to and fro through Space. |
b. Naut. A solid point or beak projecting from the bows of a war-vessel, and enabling it to ram and batter in the side of an opponent.
| 1865 W. J. Tenney Hist. Rebellion U.S. 223/2 The Merrimac soon crushed her iron horn or ram into the frigate..knocking a hole in the side near the water-line. c 1869 Ld. C. E. Paget Autobiog. (1896) 335 There was but little damage done to them by shot or shell. The ram was the deadly weapon. |
c. Naut. A battleship fitted with a ram.
| 1862 Ellet in Tenney Hist. Rebellion U.S. 169/1 After..the gunboats and one of my rams had passed below. 1869 E. J. Reed Our Iron-Clad Ships Introd. 23 The chapters on the cost of our iron-clad fleet, and upon the deeply important question of ‘Rams’. 1898 C. A. Dana Recoll. Civil War iii. 37 First came seven ironclad turtles and one heavy armed ram. |
d. Shipbuilding. (See
quot.)
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Ram, a long spar, iron-hooped at the ends, used for driving out blocks from beneath a vessel's keel, and for driving planks an end while only wedged to the ship's side. |
e. U.S. Naut. (See
quot. 1961.)
| 1909 Sun (Baltimore) 1 Aug. 14/2 Capt Andrew Hubbard, who later, with all hands, was lost at sea, saw the queer craft coming down stream. He shouted at Captain Insley ‘That's certainly a Nanticoke ram.’ 1953 Sun Mag. (Baltimore) 25 Oct. 30/5 Rams which once hauled lumber are now summer cruise ships. 1961 J. E. Marvil Sailing Rams 9 Ram, 3 masted bald headed schooner, flat bottom, straight sides without jib boom built and sailed mainly on Chesapeake Bay. |
f. Eton slang. (See
quot. 1977.)
| 1922 S. Leslie Oppidan xvii. 200 A strange procession... There was no variation in the ram, as it was called by a football metaphor. 1930 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 21/2 On the last occasion Lori-Phillip touched a rouge, but the ram failed. 1942 J. Lees-Milne Ancestral Voices (1975) 30 Then to evensong in [Eton] College Chapel where the traditional ceremonial is invariable. The ‘ram’ marches in the same deliberate, self-conscious manner. 1977 A. J. Ayer Part of My Life ii. 44 After scoring a rouge the attackers could gain an extra point by charging in column and bundling their opponents and the ball into the goal. The column was known as a ram, which was also the name given to the twin columns of Colleger and Oppidan sixth-formers, as they processed into Chapel. |
g. An underwater projection from an iceberg or other body of ice.
| 1952 Functional Gloss. Ice Terminol. (U.S. Navy Hydrogr. Office) 22 More rapid melting at the water line than above and below causes a notch to be formed at the water line below which is the ram. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia IX. 160/2 In the Labrador current, sailing at one or two knots toward the North Atlantic shipping routes, this iceberg had a ram (underwater projection), as most icebergs do by the time they enter the warmer waters near the Gulf Stream. 1976 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXIV. 644/1 Ice headlands are elevated because the underwater ‘ram’ at the seaward side gives more buoyancy. |
4. a. The weight of a pile-driving machine, which is raised to a height by pulleys, and being released is so guided as to fall on the head of the pile which is being driven; a monkey.
| 1440 in C. Welch Tower Bridge (1894) 55 The ‘great Gebet-ram’, the ‘Lesser Rennyng ram’. 1462 Ibid., Drawing the Gebet-ram in pylyng by stadelles next the bridge. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 536/2 Some of those piles were..driven into the maine rocke of chalke, with a great engine called a ram. 1739 C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 21 Supposing the Ram or Weight to be 1700 lb. 1776 G. Semple Building in Water 36 The Ram and Follower resting on the Head of the Pile. 1853 Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 306 If..the piles are..driven by heavy rams till they will sink no further. |
b. A steam-hammer used in setting-up a bloom of metal.
c. A paviour's
rammer.
| 1885 Antiquary Oct. 146/1 Each man..threw down the ram with a thud. |
5. a. An automatic water-raising machine, in which the raising power is supplied by the concussion of a descending body of water in a pipe.
| 1808 Young in Phil. Trans. XCIX. 22 Almost in the same manner as a stream of water strikes on the valve of the hydraulic ram. 1851 Stephens Bk. Farm (ed. 2) I. 27/1 The ram may be described as a sloping pipe in which the stream runs [etc.]. |
b. The piston of the large cylinder of a hydrostatic press.
| 1816 J. Smith Mechanic II. 396 It is desirable..to make use of the larger pump rod to raise the ram as expeditiously as possible. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts s.v. Press, The hollow cylinder of the press, which, as well as the ram, is made of cast iron. 1858 Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., Hydrost., etc. 10 The ram, the immediate object that receives and transmits the pressure. |
c. A hydraulic lifting-machine.
| 1861 Times 7 Oct., There were several men engaged in pumping water into the ram. I observed..that they were lifting the girder with one ram. 1862 Catal. Intern. Exhib. II. x. 9/2 The hydraulic rams will safely lift a dead weight of 6000 tons. |
d. The plunger of a force-pump.
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Forcer, a pump by which the water is raised with a ram or plunger. |
e. The reciprocating arm on which the tool is mounted in a shaping or slotting machine.
| 1864 D. K. Clark Exhibited Machinery of 1862 iii. §1. ii. 133 Machines..for shaping levers, cranks, connecting rods... The ram is moved by means of a peculiar crank-motion, with a quick return. 1935 Buck & Hickman Ltd. Gen. Catal. Tools & Supplies 126 Hand shaping machine... There are nine different working positions of handle, the ram having three holes and the handle three holes. 1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes viii. 216 Most shaping machines are of the crank type... The ram is located in the top slideway of the body and is reciprocated by the crank mechanism. 1977 Buck & Hickman Catal. 1977–1979 High speed shaping machine... The ram, carriage and table are all mounted in dovetail guides. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. (sense 1)
ram-breeding,
ram-faced adj.,
ram-horn (also
attrib.),
ram-lamb,
ram-like adj.,
ram-mutton,
ram-supporters,
ram-tender,
ram trade.
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 393/2 Pure Leicesters..are now confined to a few *ram-breeding flocks. |
| 1921 R. Graves Pier-Glass 49 *Ram-faced lecher, the blood on his own beast head! |
| 15.. Wooing of Jok & Jynny 65 (Bann. MS.) Ane trene truncheour, ane *ramehorne spone. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. v. ii, His ram-horn spoons and kitted whey. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. Introd. 5 Ill-tongued tinklers, with..their hampers, and their ram-horns. |
| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 81 Geld bulcalfe and *ramlamb, as soone as they fall. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 227 If his right cullion or stone be tied vp, hee getteth ewe lambes; but if the left be taken vp, hee getteth ramme lambes. 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 63 The ram-lambs..are slightly heavier than the ewe lambs. |
| 1851 C. L. Smith tr. Tasso xi. xxxvii, The ram..Whose *ram-like head is armed with iron plates. |
| 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. iii. i, A huge shoulder Of glorious fat *ram-mutton. 1837 Haliburton Clockm. 168 A few half-starved pigs,..some ram mutton. |
| 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xxx. (ed. 3) 451 In addition to the *ram-supporters, rams' heads are several times sculptured. |
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 805 An old Sheepe-whistling Rogue, a *Ram-tender. |
| 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 154 The history of the *ram trade. |
b. Naut. (sense 3 b), as
ram-bow,
ram cruiser,
ram fleet,
ram-steamer,
ram-stem,
ram-vessel; (sense 3 e)
ram schooner;
ram type adj.| 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xv. 292 Ships with *ram-bows in which the distance from the catheads to the hawseholes is considerable. 1895 Chambers' Encycl. VII. 417/1 La Gloire..was built with a ram-bow. |
| 1892 Daily News 16 Dec. 5/6 The *ram cruiser Empress Elisabeth. |
| 1865 W. J. Tenney Hist. Rebellion U.S. 169/1 Col. Ellet commanding the *ram fleet. |
| 1904 Naut. Gaz. 14 Apr. 211/1 Geo. K. Phillips & Co., Bethel, Del., have on the stocks a three-masted *ram schooner 140 ft. long. |
| 1897 R. Kipling Capt. Cour. 128 The *ram-steamer Arctic that breaks the ice. |
| 1869 E. J. Reed Our Iron-Clad Ships i. 19 The ‘Warrior’ is much more than an ordinary ship..having a massive solid forged *ram⁓stem. |
| 1956 Sun (Baltimore) 19 Apr. 38/8 Mr. Katz said he would prove the captain of the ill-fated ‘*ram type’ schooner ran for shelter when hurricane winds were predicted. |
| 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVII. 381 All fleets should be attended upon by *ram-vessels. |
7. Special combs.:
ram-block Naut., a dead-eye (
† also
ram's block);
† ram('s)-ciche, the common chick-pea (
Cicer arietinum);
ram-coupler, a form of coupler used between closely-set organ manuals;
† ram-engine, a battering-ram;
† ram-fish, some kind of sea-monster (L.
aries, Pliny);
ram-getter, a ram kept for breeding rams;
ram-goat,
† a he-goat; also, a low-growing shrub (
Fagara microphylla) of the W. Indies and S. America;
ram-house, a shed for protection in working a battering-ram;
ram-letting, the letting-out of rams for breeding purposes;
ram-reel, a dance of men only, a bull-dance;
ram-riding, a form of popular punishment;
† ram-sheep, the common sheep.
| 1611 Cotgr., Cap de mouton, (in a ship is) a certaine flat peece of wood bored full of holes..; we call it, the *Rammes⁓blocke. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 143 The blacke ciches..called *Ram-ciches. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Belier, Chiches de belier, Rammes Citches, blacke Citches. |
| 1881 W. E. Dickson Pract. Organ-Building xii. 156 The *ram-coupler can be used between manuals arranged too closely to admit of tumblers. |
| 1632 Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 150 Don Peplasos..caused a *Ram-engine to be landed, which, together with its testude, they setled on its wheels. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 262 Of the *Ram-fish. This fish is a very strong theef at sea, and makes foule work where he comes. |
| 1790 Marshall Rural Econ. Midl. C. I. 429 Getting Rams, to be let out again to inferior tupmen, as *ram-getters. 1837 Youatt Sheep 317 Strength of frame..was the distinction between the ‘ram-getter’ and the ‘wedder-getter’. |
| 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 136 The flesh of a *Ram goat. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 8 In Angola..some adore the Deuill in forme of a bloudie Dragon, others a Ram-goat. 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Indian Isl. Index, Ram-goat. 1882 in Smithsonian Misc. Collect. XXIII. No. 13. 38 Ramgoat-bush... The whole plant has a strong smell. |
| 1878 Gosse Rivers of Bible 152 The *ram-house, and part of the tower, are covered with hurdles or hides. |
| 1861 Times 17 Sept., The *ram lettings in progress..show..a great development of enterprise on the part of sheep breeders. |
| 1813 D. Anderson Poems 122 (Jam.) The chairs they coup, they hurl an' loup, A *ram-reel now they're wantin. |
| 1891 Q. [Couch] Noughts & Crosses 100 They had seized the woman..and were hauling her along in a *Ram Riding..the men..had to drag her, her feet trailing, and the horns and kettles dinning in her wake. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIII. 562/1 Linnæus enumerates three species..1. The ovis aries, or *ram-sheep. |
▪ II. ram, n.2 rare.
Ore.
black ram, bog-iron.
| 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. ii. iii. 114 The rich Gold Ram or Slick (out of which Gold is quickened). 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 76 Large quantities of black ram (i.e. bog iron) are found dispersed through all the moors and low-grounds. |
▪ III. ram, n.3 Naut. Length ‘over all’ of a boat. Also, the centre plank of a coble.
| 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6224/5 A Vessel 27 Foot and half upon the Keel, 33 Foot Ram. 1889 Whitby Gaz. 2 Aug. 4/6 The charge for any boat exceeding 17 feet in the ram, that is to say anything after the style of a coble. 1933 Yachting Monthly LVI. 108/1 The centre plank [of a coble] is called the ‘ram’. 1970 E. J. March Inshore Craft Gt. Brit. I. iv. 137 The true coble is built up on a ‘ram plank’ not a keel. 1973 W. Elmer Terminol. Fishing iv. 113 The ram denotes the broad central bottom plank in the cobles, which have no keel. |
▪ IV. ram, n.4 (
ræm)
[f. ram v.1] 1. a. The act or process of ramming.
| 1897 Westm. Gaz. 7 May 2/1 The prescribed course of alternate cram and ram proved entirely successful. |
b. ram and dam(n), jocularly applied (
attrib. or absol.) to a muzzle-loading gun.
| 1866 Cornhill Mag. Sept. 342 Old sportsmen..who still use and prefer the old ‘ram and d—n’ which they wielded so effectively in their youth. 1899 Pall Mall Mag. Jan. 116 A pot-hunter..considering the condition of his ancient ram-and-dam gun. |
2. a. The compressive effect experienced by air which is constrained to enter a moving aperture or restricted space (
spec. the intake of a jet engine); (
cf. ramjet).
orig. and
freq. attrib., as
ram compression,
ram effect,
ram pressure.
| 1944 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLVIII. 445 Air is led from the intake A, under full ram due to the forward speed of the aircraft, to the compressor B. 1945 P. H. Wilkinson Aircraft Engines of World 343 Ram effect in flight compresses air to more than atmospheric pressure. 1948 C. E. Chapel Aircraft Power Plants iii. 30/2 Ram pressure is that developed in the carburetor air scoop by the forward speed of the airplane. 1953 J. Liston Power Plants for Aircraft ii. 65 Compression is obtained by utilizing the forward motion of the aircraft to produce a dynamic pressure or ‘ram’ in the diverging inlet section of the engine. 1960 D. G. Shepherd Introd. Gas Turbine (ed. 2) iii. 84 This increase of temperature and pressure due to aircraft speed is called the ram effect, or simply ram. 1969 W. Thomson Thrust for Flight 43 At the high forward speeds made possible by jet propulsion the pressure in the turbine compressor intake can be raised by ram effects to such an extent that the turbines of fast aircraft become very efficient. Ibid. 53 Increase of pressure by ram is not a free gift. 1971 P. J. McMahon Aircraft Propulsion iii. 111 All the compression needed for it [sc. the ramjet] to operate as a heat engine comes from ram compression in the intake due to forward motion. |
b. Special
Combs.:
ram air, air which is constrained to enter a moving aperture;
freq. attrib.;
ram-wing, a wing-like structure on an air-cushion vehicle which generates lift by means of a ram effect, compressing air between itself and the ground or water surface as it moves.
| 1953 Jennings & Rogers Gas Turbine Analysis & Practice i. 9 Ram air slightly compressed by the forward progress of the airplane enters the impeller, where the pressure of this air is increased by some 10 to 20 in. Hg. 1962 Engineering 31 Aug. 258/2 If..all the engines were out, two ram-air turbines provide electric and hydraulic power for essential flying control and aircraft services. 1978 A. Welch Bk. of Airsports vi. 92/2 The Para-Foil, or ram-air 'chute, was developed in the late 1960s by Domina Jalbert. |
| 1962 Air-Cushion Vehicles Oct. 70/2 Of particular interest..is a Kawasaki ram-wing craft now being built. 1968 Elsley & Devereux Hovercraft Design & Construction i. 13 The ram wing is another type of aerodynamic craft... This is essentially a low-aspect-ratio wing with its trailing edge virtually touching the surface and with endplates sealing the tips to the surface. Suction pressures are developed on the upper surface together with ram or dynamic pressure underneath. |
Add:
[2.] [b.] ram-raid n., an instance of ram-raiding.
| 1987 Evening Chron. (Newcastle) 12 Nov. 2/7 Thieves drove through the shutters of a Tyneside warehouse and loaded up with television sets and video recorders. The *ram-raid took place last night at the Granada warehouse. 1991 Viz Dec. 38/1 Tango alpha. Victor foxtrott (sic). We have a report of a ram raid in progress. 1992 Independent 17 Sept. 8/8 A cash-dispensing machine was recovered and five men arrested shortly after a ram raid on a branch of the Abbey National Building Society in Herne Bay, Kent. An earthmover was used to remove the machine. 1994 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 24 Mar. 2/8 Police reported two ram-raids..in Brisbane last night and early this morning. |
ram-raid v. trans., to break into (
esp. commercial premises) by means of ram-raiding.
| 1991 Observer 22 Sept. 13/5 There is even an electronic koban that connects the Japanese citizen, via video, to police headquarters. I fear, though, that if this was transplanted to Tyneside it would be either burnt down or ram-raided and stolen. 1992 New Musical Express 4 Apr. 18/1 The club doors are ram-raided and trashed by three reprobates in a stolen car, pissed off at being refused entry. |
ram-raider, one who engages in ram-raiding.
| [1986 Evening Chron. (Newcastle) 21 Oct. 1/4 Earlier this month a pair of motor cycle ramming raiders forced their way into two Tyneside stores and stole more than {pstlg}1,000 worth of clothes.] 1987 Evening Chron. (Newcastle) 3 Apr. 1/2 A gang of *ram-raiders smashed into two shops on Tyneside today. 1991 Today 12 Sept. 34/2 The Tyneside ‘ram raider’ killed during a police chase. 1994 Bristol Jrnl. 7 Jan. 1/1 Private homes are being targeted by ram raiders in the latest crimewave to hit parts of Northavon and Bristol. |
ram-raiding, a form of smash-and-grab robbery in which premises are broken into by ramming a vehicle through a window or wall.
| 1991 Independent 1 May 18/1 *Ram-raiding—using cars as battering rams to break into shops—is the latest threat to stores in the North-east. 1994 Guardian 11 Jan. i. 3/4 Police suspected this car might have been involved in ram-raiding and tried to stop it. |
▪ V. ram, n.5 slang (
orig. and chiefly
Austral.).
(
ræm)
[Of uncertain origin; perh. a transf. sense of ram n.1 See ampster n.] An accomplice in petty crime; the henchman of a swindler or trickster; a confederate, a decoy.
| 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 59 Ram, a trickster's confederate. 1944 Amer. Speech XIX. 188 [Australian] rhyming slang does not always appear as such, as..in the case of amster or ampster, a crook's confederate, also known as a ram; a rhyme was made (amsterdam, a ram), but shortly the phrase was cut back to amster, and the origin..is obscured. 1960 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 418/2 Ram,..an accomplice of a crook. More common in Austral. than in U.S. 1966 Baker Austral. Lang. (ed. 2) xi. 246 The ram would say, ‘Give the old boy a fair go; he's nearly too old to spin them!’ |
Hence
ram v.3 intr., to act as a ‘ram’.
| 1952 Coast to Coast 1951–2 199 Siddy might have been ramming for you, but what you didn't know, my lad, was that he was helping me to hook you. You were a goner from the start. 1964 H. P. Tritton Time means Tucker (rev. ed.) 33 A gentleman with an umbrella, three thimbles and a pea was demonstrating how ‘the quickness of the hand deceives the eye’ and was raking in the money at a great rate. When business slackened, another gentleman would pick the pea with surprising regularity... No one seemed to wake up to the fact that the second gentleman was ‘ramming’ for the first gentleman. |
▪ VI. ram, v.1 (
ræm)
Also 4–7
ramme, 7
ramb, 8
ramm.
[ME. rammen = MHG. rammen to batter, drive in, etc. Perh. f. ram n.1 (as if, to butt or strike like a ram), but the earliest uses in Eng. do not clearly show this.] 1. a. absol. To beat down earth with a heavy implement, so as to make it hard and firm.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 533 (Kölbing) Sum rammed & doluen snel & gun þat castel fair & wel. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 422/2 Rammyn' wythe an instrument, trudo, tero, pilo. 1651 W. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xvii. (1739) 94 An instrument..that in laying a sure Foundation, doth as well ram down as raise up. 1796 C. Marshall Gardening iii. (1813) 35 It is best to lay a few yards of gravel only at a time before ramming or treading. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 239 Throw in six more inches of clay, and ram well over. |
b. trans. with
ground, etc. as object.
| 1596–7 S. Finche in Ducarel Acct. Croydon App. (1783) 153 Small stone, and brickbats..rammed stronglye, course upon course. 1664 Gerbier Counsel 26 The Brick-layers to lay no Foundation except the ground be first Ram'd. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 128 If the Ground be hollow or weaker in any place, he strengthens it, sometimes by well ramming it down. 1757 Milles in Phil. Trans. L. 26 They are obliged to pave and ramm the bed of the river. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 338 The space between being filled with clay or chalk closely rammed. |
| transf. 1873 Holland A. Bonnic. xiii. 214 Mr. Mullins..rammed down his shirt bosom again. |
c. To fix or make (a thing) firm by ramming the surrounding soil.
| 1565 Golding Cæsar 190 b, Greate postes of streight timber..are let into the grounde..and rammed surely with a great deale of earth. 1882 Garden 11 Mar. 169/2 The plants may be well rammed and top-dressed with stiff loam. |
2. a. To force or drive
down or
in by heavy blows; to drive (piles, etc.)
into the soil in this way.
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 240 A quauery..foundacion, must be holpe with great pylys of alder rammed downe. 1530 Palsgr. 678/2, I ramme, as workmen ramme in pyles... They have rammed syxe pyles this mornynge. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 85 Euen, as it were, pyles of wood rammed into the earth. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1848) 22 Stiff Clay..is forc'd and ram'd in next the Sand. 1840 Evid. Hull Docks Com. 37 We ram some concrete between the piles. 1881 Whitehead Hops 36 Men pitch holes..and ram the poles down into them. |
b. To force (a charge) into a fire-arm by means of a ram-rod.
to ram home: see
home adv. 4.
| 1598 Barret Theor. Warres iii. i. 34 To ramme the same [bullet] with paper, tow or such like. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 66 A Rammer is a bob of wood..to ramme home the Powder. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 72, I..loaded again with a double Charge.., which I took care to ram down as hard as ever I was able. 1781 Thompson in Phil. Trans. LXXI. 269 The recoil of a musket is greater when its charge is rammed than when it is not. 1878 Besant & Rice Celia's Arb. xxii, You had better ram in your charge. |
| absol. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 112, No. 2 searches, sponges, rams home. |
c. To cram, stuff, thrust (a person or thing)
into something (
lit. and
fig.).
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 44 In this od hudge ambry they ramd a number of hardye Tough knights. 1640 Sir E. Dering Sp. on Relig. 14 Dec. 13 They have rammed a prodigious ungodly oath into them. 1682 Dryden & Lee Duke of Guise v. i, By Heaven I'le ramm thee in some knotted Oak. 1840 Lady C. Bury Hist. of Flirt xxvi, I always ram my clothes into a box. 1869 C. Gibbon Robin Gray xxxvi, In a hurry to ram his head into the noose. |
d. To push firmly
down; to pen
up closely.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. i. iv, Ramm't quicklie downe, that it may not rise up. 1768 Foote Devil i. iii, Consider, ramm'd up in this narrow compass [a bottle], I can't be much at my ease. 1887 Sir R. H. Roberts In the Shires ii. 25 He rams his old hat down on his head. |
3. a. To force in or compress the charge or contents of (a gun, etc.) by ramming.
| 1581 Styward Mart. Discipl. i. 13 Euerie peece to haue his gonner,..to wade, ram,..and coole the peeces. 1796 Pegge Anonym. (1809) 280 It made a flash and a sharp crack, like that of a gun high charged and hard rammed. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 9 Having rammed a rocket. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iv. xvii. 265 He took out his pipe, and rammed it with his forefinger. |
b. To cram or stuff hard
with something.
| 1590 Spenser F. Q. i. vii. 13 That divelish yron Engin,..With windy Nitre and quick Sulphur fraught, And ramd with bollet rownd. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster v. i, His poesie, tis so ramm'd with life. 1721 Ramsay To R. H. B. iii, If ram'd wi' red, they rant and rair, Like mirthfu' men. 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 237/1 The intervening space being well rammed with saw-dust. |
4. To stop, stuff, or block
up. Also
const. with.
| a 1548 Patten Exped. Scotl. B vij b, These kepers had rammed vp their outer dores. 1620 Quarles Feast for Wormes (1638) 3 Ramme up thine eares,..Be deafe to them. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 518 A back stair..ramb'd up with earth to prevent any passage. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. iv. iii, ædiles; who would..have rigorously seen rammed up into total abolition many a foul cellar. |
5. † a. intr. To batter
at with a ram.
Obs. rare.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 134 So was it impossible that the wals of Iericho should fall doune, being neither vndermined, nor yet rammed at with engines. |
b. trans. To dash violently against, to strike with great force;
esp. Naut. to strike (a ship) with the ram.
| 1864 New York Picayune in Daily Tel. 30 Aug., The Tennessee was rammed by the Hartford. 1893 Times 24 June 7/5 The Victoria had been rammed six miles off Tripoli. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1071 In blood so treated it is easy to observe the filariæ ramming the sheath and hitting their way out. |
| absol. c 1869 Ld. C. E. Paget Autobiog. x. (1896) 334 The Kaiser..rammed four successive times. 1898 Tit-Bits 26 Mar. 492/2 When the order to ram is given, everybody throws himself flat on the deck. |
6. a. To dash, force or drive (one thing
on,
at, or
into another);
Sc. to punish (a person) by dashing against a wall (
quot. 1854).
| 1715 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. iii. xxiii, Some ramm'd their noddles wi' a clank..On posts that day. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 228 The disputants..were prepared to assist in ramming each the other; and so rammed they both were. 1858 R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma xxiii, Ramming his horse well at it, he gets through. c 1869 Ld. C. E. Paget Autobiog. x. (1896) 334 The gallant Petz, who rammed the old two-decker..into an Italian ironclad. |
b. Of a ship: to force
a way by ramming.
| 1914 Times (Weekly ed.) 10 Apr. 293/1 The Bellaventure was nine hours yesterday in ramming her way through four miles of ice. |
† 7. to ram oneself: to say ‘rammee’ (
q.v.).
Obs.| 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 126 His Proclamations and Manifests against Prophaneness..disobeyed by..those who will Ram and Damn themselves to be his best friends. |
Add:
[5.] c. intr. To crash or bump heavily
into.
orig. U.S.| 1961 S. Elkin in Nugget Oct. 26/1 All Deegan had to do was slide, fall away, but instead, he rammed into the catcher. Both fell heavily to the ground. 1972 R. Allen Skinhead Escapes 106 He slammed a fist into the ‘Shed’ boy's mouth, drew his revolver. The metal barrel slushed across another face, the muzzle rammed into a set of ivories. 1975 U.S. News & World Rep. 10 Mar. 28/3 The last time it was towed in, somebody rammed into it. 1983 R. Narayan Tiger for Malgudi 19 She..knocked me off my feet by ramming into me. 1985 R. Silverberg Tom O'Bedlam (1986) viii. i. 279 They were just ramming helplessly into each other down there, the big vans going right up over some of the small cars. 1990 D. McFarland Music Room 53 An accident in which a young man, swerving to miss a cyclist in a crosswalk, rammed into a steel lamppost. |
▪ VII. † ram, v.2 Obs. rare.
[f. ram n.1 1.] trans. To leap (the ewe).
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. vii. 134/1 A Ram, Rutteth or Rammeth the Ewe. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. (1737) 222 They will not be ridden, tupp'd, and ramm'd. |