ram

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈram 

1

a

: a male sheep

b

capitalized : aries

2

a

: battering ram

b

: a warship with a heavy beak at the prow for piercing an enemy ship

3

: any of various guided pieces for exerting pressure or for driving or forcing something by impact: such as

a

: the plunger of a hydrostatic press or force pump

b

: the weight that strikes the blow in a pile driver

ram

2 of 3

verb

rammed; ramming

intransitive verb

1

: to strike with violence : crash

2

: to move with extreme rapidity

transitive verb

1

: to force in by or as if by driving

2

a

: to make compact (as by pounding)

b

: cram, crowd

3

: to force passage or acceptance of

ram home an idea

4

: to strike against violently

rammer noun

RAM

3 of 3

noun (2)

ˈram 

: a computer memory on which data can be both read and written and on which the location of data does not affect the speed of its retrieval

especially : RAM that acts as the main storage available to the user for programs and data

called also random-access memory

compare rom

Synonyms

Verb

• bang
• bash
• bump
• collide
• crash
• hit
• impact
• impinge
• knock
• slam
• smash
• strike
• swipe
• thud

Examples of ram in a Sentence

Verb

They deliberately rammed my car from behind.

The car slid and rammed against the wall.

He deliberately rammed his car into mine.

She rammed her fist against the wall in anger.

She rammed the cork into the barrel.

He opened the chute and rammed the clothes down.

Noun (2)

My computer is slow because it needs more RAM.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Driving that ram rotor requires energy, and that's going to impact efficiency. —New Atlas, 4 Dec. 2024

Gus Edwards was one of the fiercest battering rams ever to wear the purple and black. —Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 26 Nov. 2024

Verb

Still, with a narrow majority in Congress, multiple reports suggest the president-elect is reluctant to expend too much political capital on ramming Hegseth through the Senate and has begun exploring alternatives. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024

The theory advanced in favor of remaking the system in order to ram through Trump’s cabinet picks is that our institutions are so corrupt that the system itself needs a kind of shock treatment that can only be administered by people too radically antiestablishment to pass Senate scrutiny. —The Editors, National Review, 22 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English ramm; akin to Old High German ram

Verb

Middle English rammen, probably from ram, noun

Noun (2)

random-access memory

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1519, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun (2)

1957, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing ram

• battering ram
• force/ram/shove (something) down someone's throat
• ram-raiding
• ram (something) home

Kids Definition

ram

1 of 3 noun

ˈram 

1

: a male sheep

2

: battering ram

ram

2 of 3 verb

rammed; ramming

1

: to strike or strike against with violence : crash

2

: to force in, down, or through by or as if by driving or pressing

rammer noun

RAM

3 of 3 noun

ˈram 

: a computer memory that acts as the main storage available to the user for programs and data compare ROM

Medical Definition

ram

noun

ˈram 

: a male sheep