tam
1
9.6
- noun
- /tæm/
- Despite her short plaid skirt, red sweater, rabbit-skin jacket, and knitted tam-o'-shanter, she looked like a police captain (Miss Lonelyhearts, 89).
Examples
-
Old Lady Balmerino, resplendent in a feathered tam-o'-shanter, apparently opening a village fete.
Fiction book (1990) -
She's tucked her dreads up into a knit tam o' shanter.
Fiction book (1990) -
When Monty went to pick up his books, a little guy in a tam-o'-shanter beat him to it.
Fiction book (1993) -
"You got to pay for dat anchorage, mon," the man in the tam called to them.
Fiction book (1996) -
Sometimes she wore an army-green homburg; sometimes a maroon tam-o'-shanter with a plastic hollyhock flower attached to the side.
Fiction book (2000) -
Bailey's tan leisure suit, matching tam o'shanter, and two-tone shoes mark him as a tourist or a golfing swish.
Fiction book (1993) -
He wore a traditional Scottish tam with a pompom on top during the festival.
-
At the parades, many participants donned bright colored tams to celebrate their heritage.
-
She picked up a warm tam to keep her head cozy on the chilly winter day.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A round wool hat with a small ball on top, often worn in Scotland
1
9.9
A round wool hat with a flat top and a pompom worn in Scotland
Compounds
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word tam comes from the name Tam o' Shanter, a character in a famous Scottish poem who wore a round wool 'cap'. So a tam is the cap named after him.