lame1

[leym] /leɪm/
adjective, lamer, lamest.
1.
crippled or physically disabled, especially in the foot or leg so as to limp or walk with difficulty.
2.
impaired or disabled through defect or injury:
a lame arm.
3.
weak; inadequate; unsatisfactory; clumsy:
a lame excuse.
4.
Slang. out of touch with modern fads or trends; unsophisticated.
verb (used with object), lamed, laming.
5.
to make lame or defective.
noun
6.
Slang. a person who is out of touch with modern fads or trends, especially one who is unsophisticated.
Origin
before 900; Middle English (adj. and v.); Old English lama (adj.); cognate with Dutch lam, German lahm, Old Norse lami; akin to Lithuanian lúomas
Related forms
lamely, adverb
lameness, noun

lame2

[leym; French lam] /leɪm; French lam/
noun, plural lames
[leym; French lam] /leɪm; French lam/ (Show IPA). Armor.
1.
any of a number of thin, overlapping plates composing a piece of plate armor, as a fauld, tasset, or gauntlet.
Origin
1580-90; < Middle French < Latin lāmina a thin piece or plate

lamé

[la-mey; French la-mey] /læˈmeɪ; French laˈmeɪ/
noun
1.
an ornamental fabric in which metallic threads, as of gold or silver, are woven with silk, wool, rayon, or cotton.
Origin
1920-25; < French, equivalent to lame lame2 + -é < Latin -ātus -ate1
Can be confused
lame, lamé.
Examples from the web for lame
  • There was a reason her students who turned in lame term papers could also churn out perfectly fine blogs.
  • The corn-spirit was probably thus represented as lame because he had been crippled by the cutting of the corn.
  • There was always a snag, a cultural misstep or lame alliteration.
  • He walked out on two wives, without even a lame excuse.
  • So, no impact and images of engineers with either lame social skills or raging office politics.
  • But if it is a joke, it's a pretty freaking lame one.
  • That's sad and lame and people looking back from a future perspective will wonder what the blazes was wrong with us.
  • His pokes at the industry and various stars were lame, and the audience didn't seem to want him there anyway.
  • The whole show is full of tired ideas and lame execution.
  • And for you to be more appalled by the actions of the one who placed the camera is really lame in my opinion.
British Dictionary definitions for lame

lame1

/leɪm/
adjective
1.
disabled or crippled in the legs or feet
2.
painful or weak: a lame back
3.
weak; unconvincing: a lame excuse
4.
not effective or enthusiastic: a lame try
5.
(US, slang) conventional or uninspiring
verb
6.
(transitive) to make lame
Derived Forms
lamely, adverb
lameness, noun
Word Origin
Old English lama; related to Old Norse lami, German lahm

lame2

/leɪm/
noun
1.
one of the overlapping metal plates used in armour after about 1330; splint
Word Origin
C16: via Old French from Latin lāmina a thin plate, lamina

lamé

/ˈlɑːmeɪ/
noun
1.
  1. a fabric of silk, cotton, or wool interwoven with threads of metal
  2. (as modifier): a gold lamé gown
Word Origin
from French, from Old French lame gold or silver thread, thin plate, from Latin lāmina thin plate
Word Origin and History for lame
n.

"silk interwoven with metallic threads," 1922, from French lame, earlier "thin metal plate (especially in armor), gold wire; blade; wave (of the sea)," from Middle French lame, from Latin lamina, lamna "thin piece or flake of metal."

adj.

Old English lama "crippled, lame; paralytic, weak," from Proto-Germanic *lamon (cf. Old Norse lami, Dutch and Old Frisian lam, German lahm "lame"), "weak-limbed," literally "broken," from PIE root *lem- "to break; broken," with derivatives meaning "crippled" (cf. Old Church Slavonic lomiti "to break," Lithuanian luomas "lame"). In Middle English, "crippled in the feet," but also "crippled in the hands; disabled by disease; maimed." Sense of "socially awkward" is attested from 1942. Noun meaning "crippled persons collectively" is in late Old English.

v.

"to make lame," c.1300, from lame (adj.). Related: Lamed; laming.

lame in Medicine

lame (lām)
adj. lam·er, lam·est

  1. Disabled so that movement, especially walking, is difficult or impossible.

  2. Marked by pain or rigidness.

v. lamed, lam·ing, lames
To cause to become lame; cripple.
Slang definitions & phrases for lame

lame

adjective
  1. Socially awkward; clumsy; klutzy: Cindy normally tells such great jokes, but that last one was really lame (1942+)
  2. (also lamed or lame-o) Stupid; inept: I automatically inherit this lame ''slacker'' attitude/ Don't try and sell us this lame-o ''throwback to a bygone era'' argument (1950s+ Students)
  3. : a lame assault on boomers/ Their performances were sloppy, sometimes even lame (1950s+ Teenagers fr jazz musicians)
noun

An old-fashioned, conventional person; square: and not worry about anybody naming me a lame/ not have been as quick to judge him as a lame (1950s+ Teenagers fr jazz musicians)