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Glite Dictionary
📷 A camera ⚙️ A machine part 🔧 To adjust movement
cam

cam

15 7.6
A rotating or sliding piece in machines that turns circular motion into straight motion
  • noun
  • /kæm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : leva
  • We replace these gears with a centripetal cam.
  • CAM socket
  • CAM prosthesis
  • CAM system

But they would put a nice finish onto the Cam covers and and oil pans.

Examples

  • During the assembly, he installed the cam that helps control the timing of the engine's valves.

  • We need a new cam shaft.

    Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)

  • Each time it tried to lift, the cam hung up until the pressure reached a certain point.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Or the overhead cam shaft.

    Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)

  • A reduction gear is affected so that the plate is lifted by the cam 60 times a minute.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The engineer explained how the cam converts the circular motion of the motor into the linear movement of the piston.

  • In this machine, the cam rotates to lift the lever, allowing the mechanical arm to move.

Compounds

cam stroke
  • Specialized
8.8

The maximum distance a part like a valve travels when a cam moves it

distributor cam
  • Specialized
8.6

A part inside a car distributor that turns to send a spark to each spark plug in order

River Cam
3.8

A river in east central England that flows through Cambridge

Surface Forms

cam singular
cams plural

Etymology

Cam comes from an old root meaning 'bend' or 'curve', the same idea you see in camber. A cam is a small curved or lumpy piece that pushes other parts, so it turns round motion into back-and-forth or sliding motion.