A.Word.A.Day --lam

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Today's Word

lam

PRONUNCIATION:

(lam)

MEANING:

verb tr., intr.: To beat soundly; to thrash.
verb intr.: To escape from the law.
noun: An escape from the law.

ETYMOLOGY:

Perhaps of Scandinavian origin. Earliest documented use: 1595.

USAGE:

“Garvel got lammed for using a Senior’s bat.”
Christopher Isherwood; All the Conspirators; Jonathan Cape; 1928.

“And all the time he’s lamming out of the country -- with our plane.”
Don Pendleton; Acapulco Rampage; Open Road; 2014.

See more usage examples of lam in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny. -Wole Soyinka, playwright, poet, Nobel laureate (b. 13 Jul 1934)

What they say

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