Spam

[spam] noun, verb, spammed, spam·ming.
1.
Trademark. a canned food product consisting especially of pork formed into a solid block.
noun
2.
( lowercase ) disruptive messages, especially commercial messages posted on a computer network or sent as e-mail.
verb (used with object)
3.
( lowercase ) to send spam to.
verb (used without object)
4.
( lowercase ) to send spam.

Origin:
(def. 1) sp(iced) + (h)am; (other defs.) 1990–95; referring to a comedy routine on Monty Python's Flying Circus, British TV series

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To spamming
Collins
World English Dictionary
spam (spæm) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb , spams, spamming, spammed
1.  to send unsolicited electronic mail or text messages simultaneously to a number of e-mail addresses or mobile phones
 
n
2.  unsolicited electronic mail or text messages sent in this way
 
[C20: from the repeated use of the word Spam in a popular sketch from the British television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, first broadcast in 1969]
 
'spammer
 
n

00:10
Spamming is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Spam (spæm) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
trademark a kind of tinned luncheon meat, made largely from pork

spamming (ˈspæmɪŋ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
the sending of multiple unsolicited e-mails or text messages, usually for marketing purposes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

spam
proprietary name registered by Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in U.S., 1937; probably a conflation of spiced ham. Soon extended to other kinds of canned meat. In the sense of "Internet junk mail" it was coined by Usenet users after March 31, 1993, when Usenet administrator Richard Depew inadvertently posted the
same message 200 times to a discussion group. The term had been used in online text games, and it was from the comedy routine in British TV show "Monty Python's Flying Circus" where a restaurant's menu items all devolve into spam.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

spam definition


Unsolicited, undesired e-mail. Also used as a verb. Spam is the e-mail version of junk mail.

Note: The name comes from a Monty Python comedy skit about a restaurant that served only Spam.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

spam definition


  1. n.
    something disliked, typically, but not necessarily, food. (From the brand name of a canned meat product.) : I can't eat this “spam.” It could be spoiled.
  2. n.
    one or a series of uninvited email messages advertising money-making schemes, pornography, or sales of any kind. : If I don't recognize the sender, I assume the message is spam and I delete it.
  3. tv.
    to clutter or fill someone's email account with spam(sense 2). : Some jerk is spamming me with an advertisement for dirty pictures.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

spamming definition


spam

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Building a list takes time and there aren't many legal, or ethical shortcuts that don't involve spamming people.
Spamming is the equivalent of boring people or mixing in business.
It has been activated only once, to perform a relatively mundane spamming operation-enough to demonstrate that it is not benign.
At the same time, spamming our students with emails from every club and organization on campus is not helpful either.
Related Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT