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View synonyms for lam

lam

1

[ lam ]

verb (used with object)

, lammed, lam·ming.
  1. to beat; thrash.


verb (used without object)

, lammed, lam·ming.
  1. to beat; strike; thrash (usually followed by out or into ).

lam

2

[ lam ]

noun

  1. a hasty escape; flight.

verb (used without object)

, lammed, lam·ming.
  1. to run away quickly; escape; flee:

    I'm going to lam out of here as soon as I've finished.

lām

3

[ lahm ]

noun

  1. the 23rd letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Lam

4

[ lahm, lam ]

noun

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

lam.

5

abbreviation for

  1. laminated.

Lam.

6

abbreviation for

, Bible.
  1. Lamentations.

Lam.

1

abbreviation for

  1. 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


lam

2

/ læm /

noun

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

verb

  1. intr to escape or flee
“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

lam

3

/ læm /

verb

  1. tr to thrash or beat
  2. intr; usually foll by into or out to make a sweeping stroke or blow
“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
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Word History and Origins

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 lam3

From Arabic; lambda
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Word History and Origins

Origin of lam1

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

Origin of lam2

C16: from Scandinavian; related to Old Norse lemja
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. on the lam, escaping, fleeing, or hiding, especially from the police:

    He's been on the lam ever since he escaped from jail.

  2. take it on the lam, to flee or escape in great haste:

    The swindler took it on the lam and was never seen again.

More idioms and phrases containing lam

see on the lam .
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Example Sentences

The first pioneer to reach the riparian tributary where Kansas City now shimmers was, in fact, on the lam himself.

The deputy offered by Leung to mediate, Carrie Lam, is also hated by many.

And while Alliegro was on the lam in Central America, Rivera reportedly visited her several times.

Tyrion, now on the lam for patricide by crossbow, is destined for an unknown foreign port like a diminutive Edward Snowden.

“[It] was an unexpected but totally interesting project,” Lam told WWD.

Diaz, the dead pigeon, and this guy McSweeney take it on the lam from the big house.

I hold that natur haz its laws and programmy, all the wa down, from the biling over ov a volkano tu the wiggle ov a lam's tale.

At length we reach the main valley, called in its upper part Tselung, and in its lower Lam-chyker.

Panislamic, pan-is-lam′ik, adj. relating to all Islam, or all the Mohammedan races.

A large fleet was prepared, and Nicias, Lam´a-chus, and Alcibiades were chosen generals of the expedition.

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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.

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