jam
v.
"to press tightly," also "to become wedged," 1706, of unknown origin, perhaps a variant of champ, v.. Of a malfunction in the moving parts of machinery, by 1851. Sense of "cause interference in radio signals" is from 1914. Related: Jammed; jamming. The adverb is recorded from 1825, from the verb.
n.
1
"fruit preserve," 1730s, probably a special use of jam, v. with a sense of "crush fruit into a preserve."
2
"a tight pressing between two surfaces," 1806, from jam, v.. Jazz meaning "short, free improvised passage performed by the whole band" dates from 1929, and yielded jam session (1933); but this is perhaps from jam (n.1) in sense of "something sweet, something excellent." Sense of "machine blockage" is from 1890, which probably led to the colloquial meaning "predicament, tight spot," first recorded 1914.