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lamb
[ lam ]
/ læm /
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noun
a young sheep.
the meat of a young sheep.
a person who is gentle, meek, innocent, etc.: Their little daughter is such a lamb.
a person who is easily cheated or outsmarted, especially an inexperienced speculator.
the Lamb, Christ.
verb (used without object)
to give birth to a lamb.
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ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?
We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.
Question 1 of 8
Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?
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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
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lamb
lam, lambWords nearby lamb
Other definitions for lamb (2 of 2)
Lamb
[ lam ]
/ læm /
noun
Charles "Elia", 1775–1834, English essayist and critic.
Harold A., 1892–1962, U.S. novelist.
Mary Ann, 1764–1847, English author who wrote in collaboration with her brother Charles Lamb.
William, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, 1779–1848, English statesman: prime minister 1834, 1835–41.
Willis E(ugene), Jr., 1913–2008, U.S. physicist: Nobel Prize 1955.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use lamb in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for lamb (1 of 3)
lamb
/ (læm) /
noun
verb
See also lamb down
Derived forms of lamb
lamblike, adjectiveWord Origin for lamb
Old English lamb, from Germanic; compare German Lamm, Old High German and Old Norse lamb
British Dictionary definitions for lamb (2 of 3)
Lamb1
/ (læm) /
noun
the Lamb a title given to Christ in the New Testament
British Dictionary definitions for lamb (3 of 3)
Lamb2
/ (læm) /
noun
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)
William. See (2nd Viscount) Melbourne 2
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
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with lamb
lamb
see hanged for a sheep (as a lamb); in two shakes (of a lamb's tail); like a lamb to the slaughter.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.