jamb

noun

ˈjam 

1

: an upright piece or surface forming the side of an opening (as for a door, window, or fireplace)

2

: a projecting columnar part or mass

Examples of jamb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The box, which fits over a door jamb, contains a homeowner’s key that is only accessible by the fire department. —Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 17 Jan. 2025

During one domestic dispute, part of someone’s pinkie gets severed by a door jamb, bounces into a koi pond and is quickly devoured by a carp. —Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025

For the chest and shoulders, the main movement is moving the extended arm toward the midline, resisting the movement by placing the forearm of the bad arm against an immovable object like a door jamb. —Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 2 May 2024

Another dead roach lay in the door jamb of a kitchen chest freezer. —David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 26 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English jambe, borrowed from Anglo-French jambe, gaunbe "side post of a door or window," literally, "leg," going back to Late Latin gamba, camba "hock or upper leg of a horse," borrowed from Greek kampḗ "bend, curve, flexion of a limb," probably going back to a European substratal base *kamp-, whence also perhaps Lithuanian kam̃pas "corner, hidden place," Latvian kampis "curved piece of wood, kettle hook," Germanic *hamfa-, whence Old Saxon hāf "lame (of hand), crippled," gihāfid "paralyzed, crippled," Old High German hamf "having a useless hand, lame," Gothic hamfs "maimed"

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

jamb

noun

ˈjam 

: an upright piece forming the side of an opening (as of a door)