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
What are the odds that Luke would randomly buy a salvaged droid that just so happened to be on the lam from his own daddy?
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025
Luke had never thought about this until just now, and it made him laugh, a little too loudly, seeing as he was officially on the lam.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
If Hawaii’s dreams could be pinned on a single person, it might be Trung Lam.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
“We do not expect a bazooka-style package,” Kelvin Lam, an economist at research firm Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a note Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 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
Norris was responding to an Urgent Question in the house by Conservative MP Katie Lam.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Every morning a row of trucks carrying bags of rice, fish, and tanks of fresh water comes blaring into Lam Sing.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Caryophylla fastigata, Lam.; and Porites subdigitata, Lam.: the only shell that we observed upon the reef was a Delphinula laciniata, Lam.
From Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 — Volume 2 by Phillip Parker King
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
In one collection of these shells, there were some valves of the Venus sinuosa, Lam., the same species found with the Mactra on the banks of the Uruguay.
From Geological Observations on South America by Charles Darwin
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
And concerning that which is supernal it is written, Lam. ii.
From Hebrew Literature by Epiphanius Wilson
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
Last week he lammed out for good, dying at 86 on his upstate New York farm.
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
But before a damage suit could be prosecuted, the spiritual leader of 20 million Ismali Moslems lammed out of town.
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
Shinners, scalpers, and tweaks are good too—jolly good!… but of course all this comes after lamming and tunding….
From Snake and Sword A Novel by Percival Christopher Wren
I don’t blame you, now, for lamming me over the ear like you done.
From The Mesa Trail by H. Bedford-Jones
I was bound to get a lamming purty soon anyhow.
From Danny's Own Story by Don Marquis
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 thinks that lamming is about due now.
From Danny's Own Story by Don Marquis
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.
