lam

[lam]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).

Origin of lam

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

lam

[lam]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

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

lām

[lahm]

noun

the 23rd letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Origin of lām

From Arabic; see origin at lambda

Lam

[lahm, lam]

noun

Wi·fre·do

[wi-frey-doh] /wɪˈfreɪ doʊ/or Wil·fre·do

[wil-frey-doh] /wɪlˈfreɪ doʊ/, 1902–82, Cuban painter in Europe.

lam.

laminated.

Lam.

Lamentations.

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

Related Words for lam

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

Examples from the Web for lam

Contemporary Examples of lam

The first pioneer to reach the riparian tributary where Kansas City now shimmers was, in fact, on the lam himself.
Those Kansas City Blues: A Family History
Katie Baker
October 24, 2014
And while Alliegro was on the lam in Central America, Rivera reportedly visited her several times.
Former Congressman May Be Future Convict
Ben Jacobs
August 20, 2014
Tyrion, now on the lam for patricide by crossbow, is destined for an unknown foreign port like a diminutive Edward Snowden.
Valar Morghulis: Game of Thrones’ Women Are Going to Rule the World
Scott Bixby
June 17, 2014
“[It] was an unexpected but totally interesting project,” Lam told WWD.
Gisele Bündchen Tops Highest-Paid Supermodels List; Kate Middleton Wears $72 Dress in Official Family Portrait
The Fashion Beast Team
August 20, 2013
But for the globally notorious on the lam, it is shaping up to be an attractive getaway.
Ecuador Needs U.S. Aid. Will They Risk It All with Snowden?
Mac Margolis
June 26, 2013

Historical Examples of lam

Mrs. McKee drew a long breath and entered the lam stew in a book.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
I've got Jeems Henery to stop gamblin',” he whispered, “an' I didn't have to lam' him.
In Happy Valley
John Fox
A trader, coming into this camp, represented that lam Khn had let Sl.
The Bbur-nma in English
Babur, Emperor of Hindustan
A genus formed for the reception of Isocardia semi-sulcata, Lam.
A Conchological Manual
George Brettingham Sowerby
Those which depart furthest from this type are the Grypha, Lam.
A Conchological Manual
George Brettingham Sowerby

British Dictionary definitions for lam

lam

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

lam

noun

a sudden flight or escape, esp to avoid arrest

on the lam

making an escape
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)

Lam.

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

"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.

Idioms and Phrases with lam

lam

see on the lam.