ham sandwich

Noun

ham sandwich (usually countable, plural ham sandwiches)

1. (countable, rare, uncountable, usually) A sandwich made with ham.
   • Muttsen looked at Eva and Eva looked at Muttsen—and Eva did not cry out, Eva slept gently—Eva ate a little sausage—a piece of ham sandwich, for her supper—Eva ate it all up; […]1919, H. von Hug-Hellmuth, translated by James J[ackson] Putnam and Mabel Stevens, A Study of the Mental Life of the Child (Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series; 29), Washington, D.C.: Nervous...
   • “Hell, that’s practically the Stone Age,” Applegate commented with a laugh, then crammed the last piece of ham sandwich into his mouth and chewed contemplatively before adding, “I can promise you what we have in store will knock your socks off.”1994, David Alexander, Bandit, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 41
2. (US, figuratively, usually) Something utterly commonplace, of modest value.
   • but did you ever hear of a young man, who becomes a millionaire in the approved style, starting life on a farm, studying by the light of a tallow dip, and coming to the city with forty-five cents and a ham sandwich1900, Charles A. Conant, “The Financial Future of the United States”, in The Bankers magazine, volume 61, page 603
   • But regardless of how enamored you may be of Green's manner and his potential, it has to come as a shock to you that he's the starter. A month ago you could have had him for a ham sandwich1998 September 15, Tony Kornheiser, “Up for the Game, Down for the Count”, in Washington Post
3. (slang, usually, vulgar) A vulva.