lam

«lam» in Mova's school dictionary: to be running away and hiding, usually from the police — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (on the lam); verb (lam, lams, lammed, lamming)

meaning for a pupil

1) (slang, US) To be «on the lam» is to be running away and hiding, usually from the police. tree →

2) (informal, UK) To lam someone is to hit them hard. tree →

3) (a name) Lam is also a family name, for example in Chinese and Vietnamese families. tree →

sense in the lessons

Met in crime stories, old films and detective books: «on the lam» tells the reader a character has escaped and is hiding. The hitting sense is old-fashioned and rare.

examples

• The robber has been on the lam for three weeks. tree →
• The detective found the thief who was on the lam. tree →
• The escaped prisoners went on the lam in the hills. tree →
• «Lam into him!» shouted the pirate in the old story. tree →
• Mr Lam is our new maths teacher. tree →
• After the jewel heist, the gang went on the lam. tree →

note

Mostly used in the fixed phrase «on the lam». Past form: lammed. Do not confuse with «lamb» (a young sheep), which sounds the same but has a silent b.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «lam» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.