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• lamb
  lamb

  noun

  a young sheep.
• Lamb
  Lamb

  noun

  Charles Elia, 1775–1834, English essayist and critic.

lamb

¹ American  

[lam] / læm /

noun

• lambs
  plural

1. a young sheep.

2. the meat of a young sheep.

3. a person who is gentle, meek, innocent, etc..

   Their little daughter is such a lamb.

4. a person who is easily cheated or outsmarted, especially an inexperienced speculator.

5. the Lamb, Christ.

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verb (used without object)

1. to give birth to a lamb.

Lamb ² American  

[lam] / læm /

noun

1. Charles Elia, 1775–1834, English essayist and critic.

2. Harold A., 1892–1962, U.S. novelist.

3. Mary Ann, 1764–1847, English author who wrote in collaboration with her brother Charles Lamb.

4. William, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, 1779–1848, English statesman: prime minister 1834, 1835–41.

5. Willis E(ugene), Jr., 1913–2008, U.S. physicist: Nobel Prize 1955.

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lamb ¹ British  

/ læm /

noun

1. the young of a sheep

2. the meat of a young sheep

3. a person, esp a child, who is innocent, meek, good, etc

4. a person easily deceived

5. 1. without resistance

   2. innocently

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verb

1. Also: lamb down. (intr) (of a ewe) to give birth

2. (tr; used in the passive) (of a lamb) to be born

3. (intr) (of a shepherd) to tend the ewes and newborn lambs at lambing time

Lamb ² British  

/ læm /

noun

1. Charles, pen name Elia. 1775–1834, English essayist and critic. He collaborated with his sister Mary on Tales from Shakespeare (1807). His other works include Specimens of English Dramatic Poets (1808) and the largely autobiographical essays collected in Essays of Elia (1823; 1833)

2. William. See (2nd Viscount) Melbourne 2

3. Willis Eugene. 1913–2008, US physicist. He detected the small difference in energy between two states of the hydrogen atom ( Lamb shift ). Nobel prize for physics 1955

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Lamb ³ British  

/ læm /

noun

1. a title given to Christ in the New Testament

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lamb Idioms  

1. see hanged for a sheep (as a lamb); in two shakes (of a lamb's tail); like a lamb to the slaughter.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lamblike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lambs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of lamb

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch lam, German Lamm, Old Norse, Gothic lamb; akin to Greek élaphos “deer”; see elk

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Explanation

A lamb is a baby sheep. Most female sheep, or ewes, give birth to one or two lambs each spring. Lambs are so cute that they tend to show up in nursery rhymes — as in "Mary had a little lamb." Awwww. When you're petting a newborn sheep, you can call it a lamb, but if you're eating meat that comes from this same animal, it's a mass noun, lamb without the a. The word can be a verb too, as when a ewe lambs, or gives birth, and it's been a common pet name, especially for a young child, since at least the eleventh century: "Okay, time for bed, lamb!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lamb Lamb lambs

Like many on Martha’s Vineyard, a resort island off Cape Cod that’s teeming with ticks this year, I bid a sad farewell to hamburgers, bacon and lamb chops.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

It processes other proteins as well such as lamb and salmon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Now, it’s known for incredible lamb, cheese, wine and fruit inspired by the natural, high-quality, hard-working traditions of generations of Māori.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

Within the category, lamb prices increased by 12.7%, milk products rose by 11.8% and eggs were up 8.7%.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

I leaned down and grabbed at the ewe’s leg to help, thinking that possibly we could save the lamb, but Louise would have none of it.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen

Their effects have been observed through well established phenomena such as the Lamb shift, spontaneous emission, and the Casimir effect.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026

“It’s not a matter if we’re behind,” said Michael Lamb, Xcel’s executive vice president and chief delivery officer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Head teacher Victoria Lamb said it allowed students to learn about an industry that was "right on their doorstep".

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

"Ink" follows the relationship between Murdoch and his first editor of "The Sun", Larry Lamb, with the latter the main character in the film, Boyle told reporters.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

Lamb, pork, wieners—extravagances unheard of a year before.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

On the Mountain School’s Instagram account, tucked between photos showing students hiking and tending to lambs, is a post highlighting recent attendees’ acceptances to Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth and UC Berkeley, among other colleges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Bluetongue is an awful disease affecting cattle and sheep, leading to the death of lambs and calves.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Mark Walter, who farms in Milton Damerel in north Devon, feared 40% of his lambs could be born stillborn or with disabilities because of bluetongue.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

That also explains why, and how, his devoted rams, lambs and ewes are able to dedicate themselves to solving his murder.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

The same effect was suspected in sorghum, sunflower, spiderwort, lambs quarters, pigweed, and smartweed.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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