gammon

plural gammons

1. countableuncountableA cut of quick-cured pork leg.

   I bake a piece of gammon that will be served both hot and, later, as cold cuts.

   2022 October 17, Nigel Slater, “Smoked haddock, baked gammon: Nigel Slater’s winter recipes that make the most of your oven”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   1 more example

   [T]he cooks were laying a refection before him of sack and anchovies and garlic sausage and gammons of bacon and - this was the important item - a great pudding dish out of which rose the noble dome of a crisp brown pie-crust.

   1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 40

present singular third person gammons · participle present gammoning · participle past gammoned · past gammoned

1. To cure bacon by salting.

present singular third person gammons · participle present gammoning · participle past gammoned · past gammoned · alternative gamen · alternative gammen · alternative gammin · alternative gamon

1. dialectalTo joke, kid around, play.
2. backgammonTo beat by a gammon (without the opponent bearing off a stone).

plural gammons · alternative gamen · alternative gammen · alternative gammin · alternative gamon

1. countabledialectaluncountableA joke, trick; play, sport, merriment.
2. countableuncountablebackgammonA victory in backgammon achieved when the opponent has not borne off a single stone.

   Toward the end of the game Roger had not borne off a single stone belonging to Roseanna, and she scored a gammon. She could not hide the triumph in her eyes. “Perhaps you will play a better game if we play for something closer to your heart,” she suggested.

   2009 July 29, Virginia Henley, The Raven and the Rose, Island Books, →ISBN, page 210

3. countablerareuncountableBackgammon (the game itself).

   We started about 7:00 drinking beers and playing gammon. Then after getting a little “loose” we went to a girls dorm.

   2008 03, Zanzibar McFate, I Battled a Giant Otter: My Gut Bustin', Mutha Lovin' Life of Manly Adventure, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 131

plural gammons

1. nauticalA rope fastening a bowsprit to the stem of a ship (usually called a gammoning).

present singular third person gammons · participle present gammoning · participle past gammoned · past gammoned

1. To lash with ropes (on a ship).

   “No, by thunder !” he cried, “it's us must break the treaty when the time comes; and till then I'll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy.”

   1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part VI (Captain Silver), page 251

1. dateduncountableChatter, ridiculous nonsense.

   “Gammon, Pen—go on,” Foker said.

   1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 46, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC

   2 more examples

   Some people maintains^([sic]) that an Englishman's house is his castle. That's gammon.

   1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, chapter XXIV, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 251

   He swore that all other religions were gammon, / And wore out his knees in the worship of Mammon.

   1911, Ambrose Bierce, “Mammon”, in The Devil’s Dictionary, New York, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.: The Neale Publishing Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms: gammon and pickles

present singular third person gammons · participle present gammoning · participle past gammoned · past gammoned

1. colloquialdatedtransitiveTo deceive; to lie plausibly to.

   2 more examples

   And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.

   1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax

   This blackfulla's driving a car. Copper stops 'im, says, “Did you know you were speeding?” Blackfulla says, “No.” His Missus goes, “Oh yeah you did, eh.” Cop says, “Did you know your tail lights aren't working? Guy says, "No". His missus says, "You did an' all, Dont you gammon to them coppers." Guy goes to his Missus, "Shut up!" Copper asks the Missus, "Does he always talk to you like that?" She goes, "Only when he's drunk!"

   2016, Cathy McLennan, Saltwater, →ISBN

comparative more gammon · superlative most gammon

1. Papua New GuineaAustralian Aboriginal; chiefly Queensland; Northern Territory; Australian Aboriginal; chiefly Queensland; Northern TerritoryFake, pretend; bullshit.

   I was just being gammon.

   1 more example

   She ripped the fake coins off […] and tried a black lacy veil, which covered Kerry's forehead, mouth and chin, rendering her mysterious. ‘I look like a Muslim,’ Kerry said doubtfully. […] It was better than the gammon coins though, so she left it.

   2018, Melissa Lucashenko, Too Much Lip, University of Queensland Press, published 2023, page 112

plural gammons

1. UKcountablederogatoryneologismuncountableA middle-aged or older right-wing, reactionary white man, or such men collectively.

   Yeah, let the bitch drown / Got the gammons all feeling sick now / Great Britannia's lost all hope, she's broke

   2022, “Take That”, performed by Bob Vylan

   1 more example

   I was expecting the Guardian to portray me as an old gammon and pair me up with some radical with coloured hair. Then she walked through the door with blue hair, which was rather amusing!

   2025 August 10, Sam Wollaston, quoting Martin, “Dining across the divide: ‘I expected to be portrayed as an old gammon and paired up with some radical with coloured hair’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

1. Irelandthe Shelta or Cant language of the Irish Travelling Community.