lambaste

or lam·bast

[ lam-beyst, -bast ]

/ læmˈbeɪst, -ˈbæst /

verb (used with object), lam·bast·ed, lam·bast·ing. Informal.

to beat or whip severely.

to reprimand or berate harshly; censure; excoriate.

Nearby words

Origin of lambaste

1630–40; apparently lam¹ + baste³

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

Examples from the Web for lambast

I only gave him his riding-orders to—to lambast you on general principles for not producing work that will last.
The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition|Rudyard Kipling
He got him down and started to lambast the Judas out of him.
The Trail of '98|Robert W. Service

British Dictionary definitions for lambast

lambast

lambaste (læmˈbeɪst)

/ (læmˈbæst) /

verb (tr)

to beat or whip severely

to reprimand or scold

Word Origin for lambast

C17: perhaps from lam 1 + baste ³

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 lambast

lambaste

1630s, from lam (1590s, ultimately from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse lemja "to beat, to lame") + baste "to thrash" (see baste). Related: Lambasted; lambasting.