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!
British Dictionary definitions for take it on the 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)
Word Origin and History for take it on the lam

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 take it on the lam

take it on the lam

verb phrase

To leave, esp hastily; escape; light out: The girl ''took it on the lam'' (1897+ Underworld)


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 take it on the lam

LAM

lymphagioleiomyomatosis
Idioms and Phrases with take it on the lam

lam

see: on the lam