cam

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈkam 

1

: a rotating or sliding piece (such as an eccentric wheel or a cylinder with an irregular shape) in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion or vice versa

2

: camshaft

an engine with a single overhead cam

cam

2 of 3

noun (2)

: camera

especially : video camera

CAM

3 of 3

abbreviation

1

computer-aided manufacturing

2

complementary and alternative medicine

Examples of cam in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

There are no known trail cam photos or pictures of the buck before it was killed, and the closest thing to a post-hunt photo is so blurred and shadowy that the hunter appears to be sitting on a shoulder mount and not an actual deer. —Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 9 Apr. 2025

Video footage captured by a dash cam and released by the sheriff's office shows the truck, a 1996 International Harvester semi tractor-trailer combination driven by Robert Thomas Jewett, 24, turn into Christensen Farms Feed Mill, a pork production company. —Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2025

The app offers features like live cam streaming, instant intruder alerts and two-way audio communication. —Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, FOXNews.com, 6 Apr. 2025

Color night vision, two-way talk, motion alerts, weather-resistant, Alexa compatible. $59.99 at Amazon $99.99 Save $40.00 Get Deal This cam is built to handle the elements, providing you with live streaming, motion alerts, and color night vision to capture clear footage day or night. —Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

perhaps from French came, from German Kamm, literally, comb, from Old High German kamb

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1777, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1969, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing cam

• body cam
• cam girl
• cam wheel
• dash cam

Rhymes for cam

• am
• bam
• cham
• clam
• damme
• damn
• dram
• flam
• fram
• gram
• ham
• jam

Kids Definition

cam

1 of 2 noun

ˈkam 

: a device by which circular motion may be transformed into stop-and-start or back-and-forth motion

cam

2 of 2 noun

: camera sense 2

Etymology

Noun

perhaps from French came "cam," from German Kamm, literally, "comb"

Medical Definition

CAM

abbreviation

1

cell adhesion molecule

2

complementary and alternative medicine

According to a 2002 survey by the National Center for Health Statistics, 36 percent of adults in the United States used some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), including naturopathy, relaxation techniques, chiropractic, yoga, massage, and diets.

—In-Sung Yoo, The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware)

Geographical Definition

Cam

geographical name

ˈkam 

river 40 miles (64 kilometers) long in Cambridgeshire, east central England, flowing into the Ouse River