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definitions

lam

1
[ lam ]
/ læm /
Slang.
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lam ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), lammed, lam·ming.

to beat; thrash.

verb (used without object), lammed, lam·ming.

to beat; strike; thrash (usually followed by out or into).

RELATED WORDS

emerge, depart, skip, duck, elude, slip, pass, vanish, circumvent, disappear, blow, avoid, dodge, run, abscond, decamp, bolt, shun, flee, desert

Nearby words

  1. lalo,
  2. lalo-,
  3. lalochezia,
  4. lalopathy,
  5. laloplegia,
  6. lam.,
  7. lama,
  8. lamaism,
  9. lamar,
  10. lamar, lucius quintus cincinnatus

Origin of lam

1
1590–1600; < Old Norse lamdi, past tense of lemja to beat; akin to lame1

Definition for lam (2 of 6)

lam

2
[ lam ]
/ læm /
Slang.

noun

a hasty escape; flight.

verb (used without object), lammed, lam·ming.

to run away quickly; escape; flee: I'm going to lam out of here as soon as I've finished.

Origin of lam

2
1885–90; special use of lam1. Compare beat it! be off!

Definition for lam (3 of 6)

lām

[ lahm ]
/ lɑm /

noun

the 23rd letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Origin of lām

From Arabic; see origin at lambda

Definition for lam (4 of 6)

Lam

[ lahm, lam ]
/ lɑm, læm /

noun

Wi·fre·do [wi-frey-doh] /wɪˈfreɪ doʊ/or Wil·fre·do [wil-frey-doh] /wɪlˈfreɪ doʊ/, 1902–82, Cuban painter in Europe.

Definition for lam (5 of 6)

lam.

laminated.

Definition for lam (6 of 6)

Lam.

Lamentations.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lam

British Dictionary definitions for lam (1 of 3)

lam

1
/ (læm) /

verb lams, lamming or lammed slang

(tr) to thrash or beat
(intr; usually foll by into or out) to make a sweeping stroke or blow

Word Origin for lam

C16: from Scandinavian; related to Old Norse lemja

British Dictionary definitions for lam (2 of 3)

lam

2
/ (læm) US and Canadian slang /

noun

a sudden flight or escape, esp to avoid arrest
on the lam
  1. making an escape
  2. in hiding

verb lams, lamming or lammed

(intr) to escape or flee

Word Origin for lam

C19: perhaps from lam 1 (hence, to be off)

British Dictionary definitions for lam (3 of 3)

Lam.

/ Bible /

abbreviation for

Lamentations
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lam

lam

n.

"flight," as in on the lam, 1897, from a U.S. slang verb meaning "to run off" (1886), of uncertain origin, perhaps somehow from the first element of lambaste, which was used in British student slang for "beat" since 1590s; if so, it would give the word the same etymological sense as the slang expression beat it.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with lam

lam

see on the lam.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.