English

Noun

lam ‎(uncountable)

1. Used in the expression on the lam to mean "on the run" (after the dated verb), when a person is fleeing law enforcement, possibly in hiding.

Verb

lam ‎(third-person singular simple present lams, present participle lamming, simple past and past participle lammed)

1. (transitive) To beat or thrash.
   • 1930, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, Mule Bone, Act II, Scene 2, in The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Volume 5: The Plays to 1942: Mulatto to The Sun Do Move, edited by Leslie Catherine Sanders, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002, p. 102,

     An' fo' I knowed it, he done picked up that bone an' lammed me ovah de head wid it.

   • 1953, C. S. Lewis, The Silver Chair, Collins, 1998, Chapter ,

     They lammed each other on the head with great, clumsy stone hammers; but their skulls were so hard that the hammers bounced off again […]

2. (intransitive, dated, slang) To flee or run away.
   • 1947, Bill Finger, World's Finest Comics #30, "The Penny Plunderers!", p. 4:

     [Gangster running away:] Batman and Robin! Let's lam!

Derived terms

• lambaste
• lam into
• lam out

Etymology 2

From the name of the Arabic letter ل ‎(lām).

Noun

lam ‎(plural lams)

1. The twenty-third letter of the Arabic alphabet, ل ‎(l). It is preceded by ك ‎(k) and followed by م ‎(m).

Anagrams

• mal, Mal, Mal.
• MLA, M.L.A.

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch lam.

Noun

lam ‎(plural lammers)

1. lamb

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse lami.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lam/, [lɑmˀ]

Adjective

lam

1. lame

Inflection

Etymology 2

From Old Norse lamb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lam/, [lɑmˀ]

Noun

lam n (singular definite lammet, plural indefinite lam)

1. lamb

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑm

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch lamp, lam, from Old Dutch *lamb, from Proto-Germanic *lambaz. Cognate with lamb, German Lamm.

Noun

lam n ‎(plural lammeren, diminutive lammetje n)

1. lamb, the young of a sheep
2. (metonymically) The meat - or fleece/wool produce of a lamb; a dish prepared from lamb's meat
3. (figuratively) A gentle person, especially an innocent child

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch *lam, from Proto-Germanic *lamaz. Cognate with lame, German lamm.

Adjective

lam ‎(comparative lammer, superlative lamst)

1. lame, unable to move, paralyzed
2. (informal) very drunk

Inflection

Derived terms

• lamstraal m
• lamme m
• verlammen
• vleugellam

Anagrams

• mal

Hausa

Noun

lam f

1. Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ل

Limilngan

Noun

lam

1. frilled-neck lizard

References

• Mark Harvey, A Grammar of Limilngan: A Language of the Mary River Region, Northern Territory, Australia (2001)

Lojban

Rafsi

lam

1. rafsi of lamji.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse lami

Adjective

lam ‎(neuter singular lamt, definite singular and plural lamme)

1. paralysed / paralyzed, crippled

Related terms

• lamme (verb)

Etymology 2

From Old Norse lamb

Noun

lam n ‎(definite singular lammet, indefinite plural lam, definite plural lamma or lammene)

1. a lamb (young sheep)

Derived terms

• lammekjøtt

Etymology 3

Verb

lam

1. imperative of lamme

References

• “lam” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse lami

Adjective

lam ‎(neuter singular lamt, definite singular and plural lamme)

1. paralysed / paralyzed, crippled

Etymology 2

From Old Norse lamb

Noun

lam n ‎(definite singular lammet, indefinite plural lam, definite plural lamma)

1. a lamb (young sheep)

Derived terms

• lammekjøt, lammekjøtt

References

• “lam” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *laimą.

Noun

lām n

1. clay, loam

Descendants

• English: loam

Old High German

Etymology

Common Proto-Germanic *lamaz, whence also Old English lama, Old Norse lami

Adjective

lam

1. lame

Descendants

• German: lahm

Polish

Noun

lam

1. genitive plural of lama

Swedish

Adjective

lam (comparative lamare, superlative lamast)

1. lame, unable to move any limbs
2. (slang) lame, inefficient, imperfect, almost ridiculously so

   Det var ett lamt försök. Gör ditt bästa istället!‎

   That was a lame attempt. Do your best instead!

Declension

See also

• förlamad
• lamslagen

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 藍

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [l̪aːm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [laːm˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [l̻ʲaːm˧˥]

Adjective

lam

1. royal blue

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowing from German Arm and English arm.

Noun

lam ‎(plural lams)

1. arm
2. blade
3. sharp blade

Declension

Welsh

Noun

lam

1. Soft mutation of llam.