jamb

1

or jambe

[ jam ]
See synonyms for jamb on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Architecture, Building Trades.

    • either of the vertical sides of a doorway, arch, window, or other opening.

    • either of two stones, timbers, etc., forming the sidepieces for the frame of an opening.

  2. Armor. greave.

Origin of jamb

1
1350–1400; Middle English jambe<Middle French: leg, jamb <Late Latin gamba, variant of camba pastern, leg <Greek kampḗ bend of a limb

Other definitions for jamb (2 of 2)

jamb2
[ jam ]

verb (used with or without object), nounObsolete.
  1. an obsolete variant of jam1.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use jamb in a sentence

  • A bright flame was burning in that of the common room, and within the very jambs of its monstrous jaws sat Cæsar and Katy.

    The Spy | J. Fenimore Cooper
  • Below the low door, with its jambs flanked by long panels covered with hieroglyphs, there was a broad, emblematic square.

  • The fire sparkled in the brass dogs and the brass jambs of the fireplace.

    Mary Gray | Katharine Tynan
  • The stiles toward the side of the jambs should be one half the rail.

  • The height of the lintel should be equivalent to the width of the jambs at the top.

British Dictionary definitions for jamb

jamb

jambe

/ (dʒæm) /


noun
  1. a vertical side member of a doorframe, window frame, or lining

  2. a vertical inside face of an opening in a wall

Origin of jamb

1
C14: from Old French jambe leg, jamb, from Late Latin gamba hoof, hock, from Greek kampē joint

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012