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lambaste

or lam·bast

[lam-beyst, -bast]
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verb (used with object), lam·bast·ed, lam·bast·ing. Informal.
  1. to beat or whip severely.
  2. to reprimand or berate harshly; censure; excoriate.
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Origin of lambaste

1630–40; apparently lam1 + baste3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lambast

Historical Examples

  • He got him down and started to lambast the Judas out of him.

    The Trail of '98

    Robert W. Service

  • I only gave him his riding-orders to—to lambast you on general principles for not producing work that will last.

British Dictionary definitions for lambast

lambast

lambaste (læmˈbeɪst)

verb (tr)
  1. to beat or whip severely
  2. to reprimand or scold
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Word Origin

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

v.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper