ram

Multiple Entries:
  ram    RAM  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
ram/ram/

▶noun

• 1 an uncastrated male sheep.

• 2 a battering ram.

• 3 the falling weight of a piledriving machine.

• 4 a hydraulic water-raising or lifting machine.

  ■ the piston of a hydrostatic press.

• 5 historical a projecting part of the bow of a warship, for piercing the sides of other ships.

▶verb (rams, ramming, rammed)

• 1 roughly force (something) into place.

• 2 (of a vehicle or vessel) be driven violently into.

• 3 (ram into) crash violently against.

• 4 (often as adj. rammed) beat (earth) with a heavy implement to make it hard and firm.

– derivatives
rammer noun.

– origin OE ram(m), of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
RAM/ram/

▶abbreviation

• 1 Computing random-access memory.

• 2 (in the UK) Royal Academy of Music.