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ram(1) (iou)



ram noun1. [ram]
[Old English ram(m), corresp. to Frisian ram, room, Middle & mod. Low German, Middle & mod. Dutch ram, Old High German, Middle High German ram ram (German Ramme rammer), perh. rel. to Old Norse ram(m)r strong.]
An uncastrated adult male sheep; in domestication, one kept for breeding purposes. OE.
milk the ram: see MILK verb. run-with-ram: see RUN adjective 1.
(Usu. Ram.) The constellation and zodiacal sign Aries. OE.
A battering ram. OE.
b. Nautical (now Hist.). A solid projection from the bows of a warship for piercing the sides of other ships; a battleship fitted with this. M19.
c. An underwater projection from an iceberg or other body of ice. M20.
The weight or hammer of a pile-driving machine. LME.
a. A machine in which a descending body of water in a pipe is brought to rest suddenly and the resulting pressure used to raise some of the water or lift something else. E19.
b. The piston of the large cylinder of a hydrostatic press. E19.
c. The reciprocating arm on which the tool is mounted in a shaping or slotting machine. M19.
d. The plunger of a force-pump. L19.
A sexually aggressive man; a lecher. colloq. E20.
Comb.: ram-cat (obsolete exc. dial.) a male cat; ram's head (a) a N. American lady's-slipper orchid, Cyripedium arietinum; (b) the tiller of a narrow boat; ram's horn (a) the horn of a ram; the material of this; (b) a curled motif resembling a ram's horn; (c) a perforated container in which fish are washed; (d) (in full ram's-horn snail, ram's-horn pond snail) any member of the family Planorbidae, which comprises herbivorous aquatic snails with flat spiral shells.