lam
verb (used with object)
to beat; thrash.
lam
1 American
[lam]
/ læm /
verb (used with object)
lammed,
lamming
verb (used without object)
lammed,
lamming
lam
2
American
[lam]
/ læm /
noun
verb (used without object)
lammed,
lamming
idioms
-
on the lam, escaping, fleeing, or hiding, especially from the police.
He's been on the lam ever since he escaped from jail.
-
take it on the lam, to flee or escape in great haste.
The swindler took it on the lam and was never seen again.
lām
3
American
[lahm]
/ lɑm /
noun
Lam
4
American
[lahm, lam]
/ lɑm, læm /
noun
lam.
5
American
abbreviation
Lam.
6
American
abbreviation
Bible.
lam
1
British
/ læm /
noun
-
a sudden flight or escape, esp to avoid arrest
-
-
making an escape
-
in hiding
-
verb
lam
2
British
/ læm /
verb
-
(tr) to thrash or beat
-
(intr; usually foll by into or out) to make a sweeping stroke or blow
Lam.
3
British
abbreviation
lam
More Idioms
Etymology
Origin of lam1
1590–1600; < Old Norse lamdi, past tense of lemja to beat; akin to lame 1
Origin of lam2
1885–90; special use of lam 1. Compare beat it! be off!
Origin of lām3
From Arabic; see origin at lambda
Explanation
The verb lam has two meanings: to hit or to run away. If you see a bully making little kids cry, you may be tempted to lam him in the nose and then lam before he can retaliate. The British slang meaning of lam, "hit or beat," is the oldest one, dating from the 16th century. It stems from an Old Norse root that means "to beat" or "to make lame." The newer, North American definition, "escape," can also be used as a noun: "After he stole his cousin's car he went on the lam." Experts trace this meaning back to slang used by pickpockets.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On the lam in Texas: Gracie the giraffe.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Before long, Frank and the Bride are on the road and on the lam, invigorating the nation in their path.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
Robert Redford became a bankable leading man in 1969, when “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” about a pair of outlaws on the lam, turned him into a paragon of the movie star.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
A gifted computer programmer, avid skydiver and motorcycle racer, Landi had been a man on the lam for roughly a decade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
Frog, he thought, lam turning into Frog again.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
While working at the family business, Lam joined a startup that built an app to help people at shopping malls find stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
And one of the most thorough goings-over Ms. Lam gives is to the singular steak and how to perfectly prepare one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Southern California is such an important cultural destination and a big place of cultural production,” said CalArts dean Steven Lam.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Lam said the idea that Ahmed could not be deported due to a "decades-old law is as just absurd as it is sickening".
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Meng says there are approximately three or four thousand refugees in Lam Sing, so our wait will not be too long.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
How deeply, from this point of view, the loss of the king was felt, at the time when that which is here merely the ideal present became the real present, is seen from Lam. iv.
From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, Vol. 1 by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg
All that they can do in such a subject is, to see vain and foolish things, and not to discover the land's iniquity, but to see false burdens, and causes of banishment, Lam. ii.
From A Hind Let Loose Or, An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland for the Interest of Christ. With the True State Thereof in All Its Periods by Alexander Shields
At the bottom of these sands a green clay occurs, containing a small oyster, Ostrea cyathula, Lam., which, although of slight thickness, is spread over a wide area.
From The Student's Elements of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell
John Yeardley had a pretty long time next, from Lam. iii.
From Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel by John Yeardley
It is good for a man to bear this yoke in his youth, Lam. iii.
From The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning by Hugh Binning
But before a damage suit could be prosecuted, the spiritual leader of 20 million Ismali Moslems lammed out of town.
From Time Magazine Archive
The diversion which enthralls him most is golf, and once golf awarded him its most coveted prize: four months ago he lammed out a hole in one.
From Time Magazine Archive
Last week he lammed out for good, dying at 86 on his upstate New York farm.
From Time Magazine Archive
Elia Kazan was casting Inge's new Broadway production, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and when Tuesday Weld suddenly lammed for Hollywood, Sandy became understudy for two roles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Like kingpins, one steel tier lammed into another, then they all crashed to the floor with a sound as of the roof falling.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
You had to keep lamming and maybe you never got a chance to enjoy it.
From Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942 by Various
I was bound to get a lamming purty soon anyhow.
From Danny's Own Story by Don Marquis
I don’t blame you, now, for lamming me over the ear like you done.
From The Mesa Trail by H. Bedford-Jones
"You went to Joe Pepper's room for the purpose of lamming him?" repeated old Mr. King, darting out of his chair.
From Five Little Peppers Grown Up by Margaret Sidney
Look at the old crook now, still lamming that axe round to beat the cars because he thinks he's being watched!
From Somewhere in Red Gap by Harry Leon Wilson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
