jam — EN↔FR

jam /BrE dʒam

, AmE dʒæm

noun

1 Cooking confiture f

apricot jam confiture d'abricots

before n [tart, doughnut] à la confiture

2 (congestion) (of people) foule f; (of traffic) embouteillage m ▶ logjam

3 (failure, blockage of machine, system, department) blocage m

4 informal (difficult situation) pétrin m informal

this is a real jam on est vraiment dans le pétrin informal

to be in/get into a jam être/se mettre dans le pétrin informal

to help sb out of a jam tirer qn du pétrin informal

5 Music ( also jam session) bœuf m informal; jam-session f

transitive verb

p prés jamming prét, pp jammed

1 (stuff, pile)

to jam things into entasser des choses dans [small space, suitcase, box]

she jammed her clothes into the drawer elle a entassé ses vêtements dans le tiroir

reporters were jamming microphones into our faces les journalistes nous fourraient des micros sous le nez informal

to jam one's hat on enfoncer son chapeau sur sa tête

to jam one's foot on the brake, to jam the brake on freiner à bloc

2 (fix firmly, wedge) coincer

I was jammed between the wall and the door j'étais coincé entre le mur et la porte

I got my finger jammed in the door je me suis coincé le doigt dans la porte

the key's jammed in the lock la clé s'est coincée dans la serrure

3 ( also jam up) (crowd, fill up) (general) encombrer

cars jammed (up) the roads les routes étaient embouteillées

to be jammed (solid) with, to be jammed full of [room, entrance, shelf] être bourré de qch [people, books, objects]

4 ( also jam up) (cause to stop functioning, block) [dirt, malfunction, person] enrayer [mechanism], coincer [lock, door, window, system]

sand had jammed (up) the mechanism le sable avait enrayé le mécanisme

to be jammed or jammed up [mechanism] s'enrayer (by sth à cause de qch); [lock, door, window] se coincer or (by sth à cause de qch); [system] se bloquer

5 Radio, Telecommunications brouiller [frequency, transmission]

intransitive verb

p prés jamming prét, pp jammed

1 (become stuck) [mechanism, switch, lever] s'enrayer; [lock, door, window] se coincer, se bloquer

2 Music faire un bœuf informal; improviser

Idioms

it's real jam informal (job, task)

c'est du gâteau! informal

you want jam on it informal British

et puis quoi encore!

(it's a case of) jam tomorrow

les beaux jours sont pour demain;

▶ money, bread

Phrasal verb

■ jam in:

jam in

[people] s'entasser;

jam [sth/sb] in

1 (trap, wedge) coincer

to be jammed in être coincé

2 (pack in) entasser

there were 30 people jammed into the room il y avait 30 personnes entassées dans la pièce