lam

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

lam, v. t. [Icel. lemja to beat, or lama to bruise, both fr. lami, lama, lame. See Lame.].

 To beat soundly; to thrash.  Beau. & Fl.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

lam, v. (lammed, lamming) sl.
1 tr. thrash; hit.
2 intr. (foll. by into) hit (a person etc.) hard with a stick etc.

lam, n.

Idiom

on the lam US sl. in flight, esp. from the police.

Etymology

20th c.: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

lam

absquatulate, batter, beat, beat it, blow, breakout, decamp, dog it, drub, duck and run, duck out, flight, getaway, hammer, make off, paste, pelt, pound, powder, pummel, scape, scram, skedaddle, skin out, skip, skip out, slip, split, take a powder, take off, thrash, vamoose, wallop