jams on the brakes - definition of jams on the brakes by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

jam¹ (j

v. jammed, jam·ming, jams

v.tr.

1. To drive or wedge forcibly into a tight position: jammed the cork in the bottle.

2. To activate or apply (a brake) suddenly. Often used with on: jammed the brakes on.

3. To cause (moving parts, for example) to lock into an unworkable position: jammed the typewriter keys.

a. To pack (items, for example) to excess; cram: jammed my clothes into the suitcase.

b. To fill (a container or space) to overflowing: I jammed the suitcase with clothes. Fans jammed the hallway after the concert.

5. To block, congest, or clog: a drain that was jammed by debris.

6. To crush or bruise: jam a finger.

7. Electronics To interfere with or prevent the clear reception of (broadcast signals) by electronic means.

8. Baseball To throw an inside pitch to (a batter), especially to prevent the batter from hitting the ball with the thicker part of the bat.

v.intr.

1. To become wedged or stuck.

2. To become inoperable: The computer keyboard jammed.

3. To force one's way into or through a limited space.

4. Music To participate in a jam session.

5. Basketball To make a dunk shot.

1. The act of jamming or the condition of being jammed.

2. A crush or congestion of people or things in a limited space: a traffic jam.

3. A trying situation. See Synonyms at predicament.

[Origin unknown.]

jamma·ble adj.

jammer n.

jam ¹

Verb

[jamming, jammed]

1. to wedge (an object) into a tight space or against another object: the table was jammed against the wall

2. to fill (a place) with people or vehicles: the surrounding roads were jammed for miles

3. to make or become stuck or locked: the window was jammed open

4. Radio to prevent the clear reception of (radio communications) by transmitting other signals on the same wavelength

5. Slang to play in a jam session

6. jam on the brakes to apply the brakes of a vehicle very suddenly

Noun

1. a situation where a large number of people or vehicles are crowded into a place: a traffic jam

2. Informal a difficult situation: you are in a bit of a jam

3. same as jam session [probably imitative]

jam ²

Noun

a food made from fruit boiled with sugar until the mixture sets, used for spreading on bread [perhaps from jam¹ (the act of squeezing)]

Jam a crush or squeeze; a mass of things or persons tightly crowded.

Examples: jam of carriages, 1858; of humankind, 1807; of people, 1860; of tarts—Lipton, 1970; of trees, 1838; traffic jam.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	jam - preserve of crushed fruit conserve, conserves, preserves, preserve - fruit preserved by cooking with sugar strawberry jam, strawberry preserves - made with strawberries
	2.	jam - informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage" kettle of fish, fix, mess, muddle, pickle, hole difficulty - a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome; "grappling with financial difficulties" dog's breakfast, dog's dinner - a poor job; a mess; "they made a real dog's breakfast of that job"
	3.	jam - a dense crowd of people crush, press crowd - a large number of things or people considered together; "a crowd of insects assembled around the flowers" snarl-up, traffic jam - a number of vehicles blocking one another until they can scarcely move
	4.	jam - deliberate radiation or reflection of electromagnetic energy for the purpose of disrupting enemy use of electronic devices or systems electronic jamming, jamming ECM, electronic countermeasures - electronic warfare undertaken to prevent or reduce an enemy's effective use of the electromagnetic spectrum barrage jamming - electronic jamming over a wide range of frequencies simultaneously selective jamming, spot jamming - electronic jamming of a specific channel or frequency
Verb	1.	jam - press tightly together or cram; "The crowd packed the auditorium" mob, throng, pile, pack crowd together, crowd - to gather together in large numbers; "men in straw boaters and waxed mustaches crowded the verandah"
	2.	jam - push down forcibly; "The driver jammed the brake pedal to the floor" push, force - move with force, "He pushed the table into a corner"
	3.	jam - crush or bruise; "jam a toe" crush bruise, contuse - injure the underlying soft tissue or bone of; "I bruised my knee"
	4.	jam - interfere with or prevent the reception of signals; "Jam the Voice of America"; "block the signals emitted by this station" block cut off, disrupt, interrupt, break up - make a break in; "We interrupt the program for the following messages" barrage jam - jam an entire frequency spectrum; "During the Cold War, the Soviets routinely barrage jammed to interfere with transmissions from the West" point jam - jam a narrow band of frequencies; "We can counter point-jamming effectively" spot jam - jam a single frequency; "This operator is spot-jammed" blanket jam - jam a broad spectrum of frequencies to affect all communications in the area except for directional antenna communications
	5.	jam - get stuck and immobilized; "the mechanism jammed" malfunction, misfunction - fail to function or function improperly; "the coffee maker malfunctioned"
	6.	jam - crowd or pack to capacity; "the theater was jampacked" chock up, cram, jampack, wad, ram stuff - cram into a cavity; "The child stuffed candy into his pockets" cram - put something somewhere so that the space is completely filled; "cram books into the suitcase"
	7.	jam - block passage through; "obstruct the path" obturate, occlude, close up, impede, obstruct, block block off, blockade - obstruct access to barricado, barricade - block off with barricades barricade - prevent access to by barricading; "The street where the President lives is always barricaded" asphyxiate, suffocate, stifle, choke - impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children" tie up - restrain from moving or operating normally; "Traffic is tied up for miles around the bridge where the accident occurred" dam, dam up - obstruct with, or as if with, a dam; "dam the gorges of the Yangtse River" block out, screen - prevent from entering; "block out the strong sunlight" earth up, land up - block with earth, as after a landslide barricade, block, block up, blockade, block off, bar, stop - render unsuitable for passage; "block the way"; "barricade the streets"; "stop the busy road" clog, clog up, congest, choke off, foul, back up, choke - become or cause to become obstructed; "The leaves clog our drains in the Fall"; "The water pipe is backed up" hinder, impede - be a hindrance or obstacle to; "She is impeding the progress of our project"