Main meanings of ram in English

: ram¹ RAM²

ram¹

Pronunciation /ram/

See synonyms for ram

Translate ram into Spanish

noun

1An uncastrated male sheep.
‘Mr Watkinson, from Constable Burton, near Leyburn, won best male with his aged ram.’
- ‘So a bellwether is the head ram with a bell hung around its neck.’
- ‘Young rams fertilize ewes using coursing tactics, whose success is independent of their dominance rank.’
- ‘Generally, slaughter of goats, sheep, rams, cows, and camels is offered.’
- ‘Their flock now boasts 35 ewes and 2 rams and, as of March, the sheep have been deemed scrapie free by inspectors.’
- ‘Since 15 to 25 percent of male sheep in U.S. flocks don't mate, ranchers want to find a way to identify good breeding rams.’
- ‘The program also encourages producers to select for resistance and to use scrapie-resistant rams in flocks that have risk factors for scrapie.’
- ‘Blackburn has 1,200 semen samples now from 27 different rams.’
- ‘The western region of the Irish Texel Sheep Society will hold their annual sale of Texel rams and ewes in Ballinrobe Mart on Friday 6th September.’
- ‘In the late 1860s and 1870s half-bred sheep were produced with English and Border Leicester and Lincoln rams and Merino ewes.’
- ‘The flock consisted of 20 rams, 44 ewes, and 43 lambs, of which 21 were female and the remaining were castrated males.’
- ‘Farmer Luke Hayden, Crowsgrove, Kildavin, lost 40% of his flock when the River Derry burst its banks, drowning 80 of his hogget ewes and two rams.’
- ‘A shearling ram shown by Tom Davies, of Pinvin, was champion male and reserve supreme.’
- ‘The Tom Crean Memorial Project would like to acknowledge with gratitude the Dingle sheep farmer who donated the ram for auction at Camp Fair in aid of their project.’
- ‘Although large flocks with herders and dogs frightened them off, there were always strays to investigate; and domestic ewes in estrus were irresistible to bighorn rams.’
- ‘By this time 16,400 sheep had died as well as 2,700 cattle, 135 rams, 39 bullocks and 18 horses.’
- ‘Following the severe winter of 1995, for example, the Mt. Langley herd was left with 4 ewes and 11 rams.’
- ‘A sheep farmer needed help castrating some of his inferior rams to keep them from breeding with the females.’
- ‘A Merino ram from the Merryville Stud at Boorowa, in New South Wales, has attracted the top price at this year's Australian Sheep and Wool Show sale.’
- ‘They all go home after killing a ram and renaming the mountain.’
1. 1.1the RamThe zodiacal sign or constellation Aries.
2A battering ram.
‘Also, castle guards often poured hot oil or other things onto the ram and its engineers.’
- ‘Süleyman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century extended his reach from the Sudan and the northern shore of Africa to Baghdad and far into Europe, where - twice - Turkish rams would batter at the gates of Vienna.’
- ‘Tense minutes passed as the sound of rams battering against the main gate began to ring throughout the valley.’
- ‘Below, the reinforced gates were suffering a battering from a siege ram.’
- ‘The heavy cutting gear, airbags and rams are among the vital, life-saving equipment that Haverfordwest fire station stands to lose.’
1. 2.1 historical A beak or other projecting part of the bow of a warship, for piercing the sides of other ships.
  ‘Its bronze ram could smash enemy ships and armed soldiers could leap aboard a foe's vessel in hand-to-hand combat with spears and swords.’
  ‘The galley's major weapon was originally a ram on the water-line, used to hole enemy ships or to smash their oars.’
  ‘The Virginia carried ten major guns (four in each broadside, one bow and one stern gun) and an iron ram.’
  ‘They were armed with a ram, relied on oars for propulsion and their deep v-shaped lower hulls had a significant advantage in speed and manoeuvrability.’
  ‘Whereas the Turks still favoured ramming, the Christian galleys had large guns pointing forward above the ram, and were well protected against the Turkish arrows.’
3The falling weight of a piledriving machine.
‘He says one man with a hoe ram on a Bobcat can break the same amount of concrete that two or three men could do with a jackhammer.’
- ‘The high-speed tine rams push into the turf and then pull out quickly, leaving little or no scuffing at the top of the hole.’
4A hydraulic water-raising or lifting machine.
- ‘Burnside Autocyl Ltd, Tullow is a European leader in the manufacture of hydraulic cylinders and rams.’
1. 4.1The piston of a hydrostatic press.
  ‘Grasp the press body with your left hand, then lower the ram by pulling the lever with your right.’
  ‘The press consists of the die, a pressure cylinder, the ram, and a container which receives the preheated ingot, or billet, to be extruded.’
  ‘This idea was developed in 1820 by Thomas Burr, who produced a hydraulic press with a mandrel attached to the ram.’
2. 4.2The plunger of a force pump.

verbverb rams, verb ramming, verb rammed

1with object and adverbial of direction Roughly force (something) into place.
‘he rammed his stick into the ground’
- ‘The raven shot down through the dark and rammed his beak into the sergeant's hat.’
- ‘She pulled her sword close, and rammed the blade's tip into the ground with great force.’
- ‘Swerving around, he then rammed them into the wall with all the force he could bear.’
- ‘I rammed my stick into his side, pushing him backwards.’
- ‘I rammed my elbow into their side, forcing them to let go of me.’
- ‘And when Tamsin takes her to the site of her father's infidelity, Mona is so moved by her companion's pain and disgust, she rams a garden gnome through the window of the cheater's posh Jaguar.’
- ‘I've always been apprehensive about dentists ramming their fingers into my mouth - it takes a fair bit of effort to restrain myself from biting them.’
- ‘The United players were livid, but McGuire was alive and decisive, ramming the ball low into the left corner of Gallacher's goal.’
- ‘His traps and poisons proved strangely ineffective for a while, but he eventually saw it off by ramming a huge bag of poison down its hole and covering with a big stone.’
- ‘The sole is hardy so good for digging, although you have to be careful about ramming the middle of the foot onto a spade - this leads to some pain.’
force, thrust, plunge, stab, push, sink, dig, stick, cram, jam, stuff, pack, compress, squeeze, wedge, press, tamp, pound, drive, hammer, bang
View synonyms
1. 1.1with object (of a vehicle or vessel) be driven violently into (something, typically another vehicle or vessel) in an attempt to stop or damage it.
  ‘their boat was rammed by a Japanese warship’
  ‘The man stole two cars, smashed into two vehicles, attempted to ram Garda patrol cars, reversed back into a Garda motorcyclist and attempted to hijack another car before being captured.’
  ‘The van then rammed the car off the road and sped off.’
  ‘In the ensuing sea chase, the trawler collided with another French fishing boat, tried to ram HMS Alderney, and eventually hit the warship while cutting across her bows.’
  ‘Take the case of a recent accident in which a tipper lorry rammed a car from behind, pushing it under a bus which was parked at a bus stop.’
  ‘A witness in the case of seven men accused of conspiracy to murder told police how the car he was travelling in with the victim was rammed by another vehicle.’
  ‘At 8.50 pm an attempt was made to stop him but he numerous attempts to ram the Garda car, causing £800 worth of damage to the Garda car.’
  ‘Brown's car rammed a Nissan Wingroad station wagon driven by Lizelle Santana, of 44 Isaac Street, Couva.’
  ‘Six crew members aboard were arrested on the spot and their ship later sank into the sea because of damage sustained when the boat intentionally rammed the coast guard ship in an attempt to flee.’
  ‘The Washington Post's Jim Hoagland wrote, ‘That's like a moving van ramming a Harley on an open field,’ and he's about right.’
  ‘Mr Quinn had two of the raiders under effective arrest in a car, but when he was distracted by two other raiders, the men in the car rammed him.’
  ‘At least two cars rammed Mr Ahmed's Rover before he leapt out and fled, only to be caught on the roundabout, the court heard.’
  ‘Incidents whereby civilians try to ram convoy vehicles are on the rise.’
  ‘The hotel had been ringed with barriers as a precaution against this kind of attack, and the bomber rammed one of the barriers.’
  ‘A crack addict carrying a burglar and stolen goods in his car rammed a police vehicle during a desperate car chase.’
  ‘He said the three-man gang attempted to flee and rammed one of the Garda cars, before they were arrested.’
  ‘He said since the trial someone had tried to ram his car and force him off the road.’
  ‘The same man tried to attack a third woman after following her along the M6 motorway, before ramming her car and forcing her to stop.’
  ‘The fact that these men hit the security guard and rammed a police motorbike shows they have no thought whatsoever for people's safety, and it is vital that they are caught before someone is seriously injured.’
  ‘Carjackers stole a terrified 75-year-old woman's new BMW after ramming it from behind.’
2. 1.2no object, with adverbial Crash violently against something.
  ‘the stolen car rammed into the front of the house’
  ‘Taylor drove off and rammed head-on into a car driven by a pensioner before he managed to get away.’
  ‘Never stop to argue a fine point with another driver who has just rammed into your stationary car at a red light.’
  ‘In a matter of seconds my father had rammed into the car in front of us.’
  ‘He stepped on the breaks but the two cars behind him rammed into the car, pushing them directly behind the truck.’
  ‘I wanted to ram into other cars to show them they shouldn't drive so rudely.’
  ‘All of a sudden the white car pulled out and rammed into the blue car.’
  ‘The car was then turned around and driven all the way back to the Ballybeg area of the city where it rammed into the Garda patrol car.’
  ‘It had rammed into another car and the front was completely messed up.’
  ‘The view of my trunk blocked the view of the RV for the moment, but I knew it would ram into my car again if I didn't get over.’
  ‘When he was sure all was ready, he started backing up, and instantly rammed into two parked cars simultaneously.’
  ‘A fearless milkman used his milk cart to ram into a robber's getaway car just minutes after being threatened with a gun.’
  ‘Three people inside the car that rammed into the hotel also died.’
  ‘The crows began to ram into the car trying to get inside.’
  ‘Just recently, two people convicted, one of them for murder for drag racing on a public street, rammed into another car, killing people in the car.’
  ‘The incident happened shortly after noon yesterday when it is understood a man drove up to the gates of the haulage company and rammed into a number of parked cars outside.’
  ‘Gardaí believe it reached speeds of over 120 mph at times along the Stillorgan Dual Carriageway before ramming into the patrol car.’
  ‘In 1998, the same Golden Temple Express rammed into three derailed cars of another train, killing more than 200 passengers.’
  ‘Raiders rammed through the window of the pub in a grey Ford Sierra car, before attaching the cash machine to the vehicle with chains and attempting to drag it away at about 12.30 am today.’
  ‘Investigations into the cause of the accident are considering the possibility the driver of the train that rammed into the parked locomotive missed a red signal light.’
  ‘In Italy, a passenger train rammed into the rear of another passenger train today, injuring at least nearly 30 people.’
  hit, strike, crash into, collide with, be in collision with, meet head-on, run into, slam, slam into, smash into, dash against, crack against, crack into, bump, bump into, bang, bang into, knock into, butt
  View synonyms
3. 1.3with object Beat (earth) with a heavy implement to make it hard and firm.
  ‘in former times, earth was rammed manually’
  ‘Avram lives in the next valley over from me in a rammed earth house on a hill above the Kenwood winery.’
  ‘The front is clad with split cedar wood shingles, and the rear is a long curving terracotta wall of rammed earth.’
  ‘The new structures consist of a steel frame and either compressed earth blocks or rammed earth and a tiled roof.’
  ‘The vaulted roof is constructed with exposed light tensile trusses that contrast with the rammed earth internal walls.’
  ‘The natural materials discussed in this American book are mostly earth-based adobe, cob, rammed earth.’
2be rammedBritish informal Be very crowded.
- ‘the bar was rammed with United supporters’

Phrasal Verbs

ram through

ram something through, ram through somethingForce something through an approval process.
- ‘the bill was rammed through the parliament with unusual haste’