jam
n.— «The Friars certainly aren’t looking for Irwin to provide 10 goals a year, anchor the power play and rush the puck from end to end. What they are looking for is that word that floats around the catacombs of Schneider Arena like a biblical buzzword: jam. “Jam” measures the intangibles a defenseman brings to the game on a nightly basis. It measures grit and toughness and nastiness and responsibility. It measures speed and pop and playing the body.» —“PC’s Irwin turns the page” by Travis Barrett The Call (Woonsocket, R.I.) Oct. 15, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...