lam1

[lam] /læm/
verb (used with object), lammed, lamming.
1.
to beat; thrash.
verb (used without object), lammed, lamming.
2.
to beat; strike; thrash (usually followed by out or into).
Origin
1590-1600; < Old Norse lamdi, past tense of lemja to beat; akin to lame1

lam2

[lam] /læm/
noun
1.
a hasty escape; flight.
verb (used without object), lammed, lamming.
2.
to run away quickly; escape; flee:
I'm going to lam out of here as soon as I've finished.
Idioms
3.
on the lam, escaping, fleeing, or hiding, especially from the police:
He's been on the lam ever since he escaped from jail.
4.
take it on the lam, to flee or escape in great haste:
The swindler took it on the lam and was never seen again.
Origin
1885-90; special use of lam1. Compare beat it! be off!

lām

[lahm] /lɑm/
noun
1.
the 23rd letter of the Arabic alphabet.
Origin
< Arabic; see lambda

Lam

[lahm, lam] /lɑm, læm/
noun
1.
Wifredo
[wi-frey-doh] /wɪˈfreɪ doʊ/ (Show IPA), or Wilfredo
[wil-frey-doh] /wɪlˈfreɪ doʊ/ (Show IPA), 1902–82, Cuban painter in Europe.

Lam.

1.
Lamentations.

lam.

1.
laminated.
British Dictionary definitions for lam

lam1

/læm/
verb (slang) lams, lamming, lammed
1.
(transitive) to thrash or beat
2.
(intransitive; usually foll by into or out) to make a sweeping stroke or blow
Word Origin
C16: from Scandinavian; related to Old Norse lemja

lam2

/læm/
noun
1.
a sudden flight or escape, esp to avoid arrest
2.
on the lam
  1. making an escape
  2. in hiding
verb lams, lamming, lammed
3.
(intransitive) to escape or flee
Word Origin
C19: perhaps from lam1 (hence, to be off)

Lam.

abbreviation
1.
Lamentations
Word Origin and History for lam
n.

"flight," as in on the lam, 1897, from a U.S. slang verb meaning "to run off" (1886), of uncertain origin, perhaps somehow from the first element of lambaste, which was used in British student slang for "beat" since 1590s; if so, it would give the word the same etymological sense as the slang expression beat it.

Slang definitions & phrases for lam

lam

verb
  1. To depart; go, esp hastily in escaping: lammed for Cleveland
  2. To escape from prison
Related Terms

on the lam, take it on the lam

[1886+ Underworld; ultimately fr British sense ''beat,'' found by 1596, hence the same semantically as beat it]


Related Abbreviations for lam

LAM

lymphagioleiomyomatosis

lam.

laminated

Lam.

Lamentations
Idioms and Phrases with lam

lam

see: on the lam