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Jam vs Malfunction - What's the difference?

jam | malfunction |

As a symbol jam

is the iso 3166-1 three-letter (alpha-3) code for jamaica.

As a noun malfunction is

faulty functioning.

As a verb malfunction is

to function improperly.

jam

English

, a type of jam, spread on a piece of bread

Etymology 1

Noun

  • A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts.
  • (countable) A difficult situation.
    • I’m in a jam right now. Can you help me out?
  • * 1975 , (Bob Dylan), (Tangled Up in Blue)
    • She was married when we first met
    Soon to be divorced
    I helped her out of a jam , I guess
    But I used a little too much force.
  • (countable) Blockage, congestion.
    • A traffic jam caused us to miss the game's first period.
    a jam of logs in a river
  • An informal, impromptu performance or rehearsal.
  • (countable, baseball) A difficult situation for a pitcher or defending team.
    • He's in a jam now, having walked the bases loaded with the cleanup hitter coming to bat.
  • (countable, basketball) A forceful dunk.
  • (countable, roller derby) A play during which points can be scored.
    • Toughie scored four points in that jam .
  • (climbing, countable) Any of several maneuvers requiring wedging of an extremity into a tight space.
    • I used a whole series of fist and foot jams in that crack.
  • (UK) luck.
    • He's got more jam than Waitrose.
  • (mining)
    • Synonyms
    * (sweet mixture of fruit) conserve, (US) jelly, preserve * See also
    Derived terms
    * jamjar * jammy * jam band * jam roly poly * jam sandwich * jam session * jam tart * jam tomorrow * log jam * Murrumbidgee jam * pearl jam * power jam * toe jam * traffic jam * want jam on it * climbing: ** hand jam ** finger jam ** fist jam ** foot jam ** pinkie jam ** ring jam ** thumb-down jam
    See also
    * jelly * marmalade

    Verb

    (jamm)
  • To get something stuck in a confined space.
    • My foot got jammed in a gap between the rocks.
    Her poor little baby toe got jammed in the door.
    I jammed the top knuckle of my ring finger.
  • To brusquely force something into a space; cram, squeeze.
    • They temporarily stopped the gas tank leak by jamming a piece of taffy into the hole.
    The rush-hour train was jammed with commuters.
  • To cause congestion or blockage. Often used with "up"
    • A single accident can jam the roads for hours.
  • To block or confuse a broadcast signal.
  • (baseball) To throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands.
    • Jones was jammed by the pitch.
  • (music) To play music (especially improvisation as a group, or an informal unrehearsed session).
  • To injure a finger or toe by sudden compression of the digit's tip.
    • When he tripped on the step he jammed his toe.
  • (roller derby) To attempt to score points.
    • Toughie jammed four times in the second period.
  • (nautical) To bring (a vessel) so close to the wind that half her upper sails are laid aback.
    • Synonyms
    * ram
    Derived terms
    * (to squeeze into a small space) jam-pack * jammer

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) or (etyl), meaning "garment, robe"; related to pajamas.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) A kind of frock for children.
    • English ergative verbs ----

    malfunction

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • faulty functioning
  • failure to function

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • to function improperly
    • She told him the machine was poorly built, but they both knew that she was the one who had malfunctioned .
  • to fail to function