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Glite Dictionary
ham sandwich

ham sandwich

12 1.0
A sandwich with sliced ham between two slices of bread
  • noun
  • /hæm ˈsænwɪtʃ/
translation icon : sándwich de jamón
  • She packed a ham sandwich and an apple for her picnic.
  • eat ham sandwich
  • make a ham sandwich
  • ham sandwich for lunch

I'm going to do soft cheese sandwiches and I'm going to do cheese and ham sandwiches for some of them.

Examples

  • The twins, Kayla and Kaylin, ran past us giggling, each of them clutching ham sandwiches.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • So for lunch today, Jackson is having a ham sandwich with some grapes.

  • With his right hand, he was eating a ham sandwich.

    Uncle Drew (2018)

  • Hey, I brought you a ham sandwich.

    Have a Little Faith (2011)

  • Rose gave me a ham sandwich.

    Fences (2016)

  • A nice cold ham sandwich.

    Vivacious Lady (1938)

  • Your cook made great ham sandwiches.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I'll have a ham sandwich.

    Academic text (2016)

  • I made ham sandwiches last night, but Rafael opened his lunch box, unwrapped a mound of tortillas, and handed it to me.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • For lunch, I decided to have a ham sandwich with mustard and pickles.

Synonyms

sandwich
vsham sandwich
800 1.0

Two slices of bread with food like meat or cheese between them for a meal

is the specific kind that uses sliced meat as the main filling
sammy
vsham sandwich
  • Informal
1 8.4

A sandwich made with bread and a filling like ham and cheese

is a specific type named for its sliced meat filling rather than an informal label

How Filling

ham sandwich
12 1.0
sandwich
800 1.0
snack
471 1.0

Surface Forms

ham sandwich singular
ham sandwiches plural

Morphology

ham + sandwich

The meaning 'a sandwich with sliced ham' is directly and compositionally derived from 'ham' (the meat) + 'sandwich' (filling between bread); there is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift. This noun–noun compound follows a common and cross-linguistically familiar naming pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Ham sandwich comes from the simple picture of slices of ham placed between two slices of bread to make a sandwich. Because this was a common, easy meal, the name simply means 'a sandwich with ham'.