I've only recently come across the use of the word as a free-standing adjective, applied to places which are tightly packed with people ('the train was rammed this evening'), rather than as a participle applied to things that have been rammed in. My 2007 CD-Rom version of the OED doesn't seem to recognize what I maintain is a quite recent development in usage; it gives the meaning 'forced in, beaten hard etc.' and all the examples it quotes are of the word being applied to things such as earth ('The roots do not penetrate through the rammed chalk'), bullets (rammed into gun barrels) etc.

I wouldn't claim it's universal, but my impression is that it's becoming more common, certainly in more formal contexts.

This post was last modified: 16-03-2014 04:57 PM by robin orton.