jam up

noun, adj, verb — 5 senses

jam-up

nounalso spelled jam-up

1

The situation where material becomes jammed in a machine, or some process similarly grinds to a halt.

The rationale goes something like this: Increasing line speeds, complex packaging equipment, and ever-lighter-weight containers and packaging materials make jam-ups likely—usually many per day.2010, Richard J. Schonberger, World Class Manufacturing: The Next Decade:
Record the number and location of jam-ups, the number of cans inspected and the number of metal fragments found.2012, R.J. Footitt, A.S. Lewis, The Canning of Fish and Meat, page 151:

jam-up

adj

1

US, Dialectal Splendid; wonderful; upstanding.

Pete's a real jam-up guy.

jam up

verb

1

To cause (something) to become blocked or clogged; to clog up.

2

To become blocked or clogged.

The traffic jammed up on the boulevard.

3

Figuratively To cause trouble; to stop or inhibit (someone, something).

Derived terms: jammed up, jam-up

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for jam-up and jam up.