ham

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 [C,U] the top part of a pig's leg that has been CURED (= preserved using salt or smoke) and is eaten as food; the meat from this: The hams were cooked whole. * a slice of ham * a ham sandwich compareBACON, GAMMON, PORK 2 [C] a person who sends and receives radio messages as a hobby rather than as a job: a radio ham 3 [C] (informal) (often used as an adjective) an actor who performs badly, especially by exaggerating emotions: a ham actor / performance 4 [C,usually pl.] (informal) the back part of a person's leg above the knee seealsoHAMSTRING verb (-mm-) IDIOMS ham it up (informal) (especially of actors) when people ham it up, they deliberately exaggerate their emotions or movements