Word Confusion: Lam versus Lamb

Plural for the noun: lams
Gerund: lamming

Third person present verb: lams
Past tense or past participle: lammed
Present participle: lamming

Plural for the noun: lambs
Gerund: lambing

Third person present verb: lambs
Past tense or past participle: lambed
Present participle: lambing

[Usually lowercase] Laminated

Long After Midnight

Find more abbreviations at Abbreviations.

Noun:
Always on the lam ²

A hasty escape

Verb, intransitive:
[Informal] Escape ²

Flee

Run away quickly

[lam into] Attack ³

To beat (usually followed by out or into)

• Strike
• Thrash
• [British] To make a sweeping stroke or blow

Verb, transitive:
[Informal] Hit (someone) hard ³

• Beat
• Thrash

• The flesh of young sheep as food
• Used figuratively as a symbol of meekness, gentleness, or innocence
• Used to describe or address someone regarded with affection or pity, especially a young child
• [the Lamb] Short for Lamb of God
  • A title given to Jesus in the New Testament (John 1:29)

Verb, intransitive:
[Of a ewe] Give birth to lambs

Verb, transitive:
Tend (ewes) at lambing time

[New Zealand, Australian; dated; informal; lamb someone down] Encourage someone to squander their money, especially on alcohol

I gotcha one order of lam. and one of lino.

Noun:
He went on the lam and is living under a false name.

Mary’s on the lam with her kid.

He’s been on the lam ever since he escaped from jail.

The swindler took it on the lam and was never seen again.

Take it on the lam, dude.

FBI agents are tracking a serial killer on the lam.

Did you hear the news? There are a bunch of escaped cons on the lam!

Verb, intransitive:
They surged up and down in their riot gear, lamming into anyone in their path.

I’m going to lam out of here as soon as I’ve finished.

That boy lammed for Cleveland as fast as he could go.

And he’s got savvy enough to know from now on that that same stone wall will be always there ready for him to lam into.

Verb, transitive:
I’ll come over and lam you in the mouth in a minute.

Come home, now,” he cried, “an’ stop yer jawin’, er I’ll lam the everlasting head off yehs.

They was hard fightin’ there, an’ some guy in the hotel lams that coal down from the second story window.

I adore lamb with mint sauce and in gyros.

To her amazement, he accepted her decision like a lamb.

The poor lamb is very upset.

It’s like leading a lamb to the slaughter.

Might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.

“In Calvary, the Lamb submitted to the will of the Father to be slain, but now is trusted with the judgment of mankind” (Revelation 21:14).

Verb, intransitive:
Those ewes are lambing all at once.

Shetland sheep lamb very easily.

After the ewes have lambed in spring, Jones plans to sell about twenty, keeping the other fifty.

I’d have to sell the sheep which would be very stressful for them because they are lambing.

Verb, transitive:
He also asked the pupils how many of them came from farms, and whether they were lambing at home.

“All the ewes are lambed inside and stay inside for about 48 hours to mother them up so that they don’t get separated when they go out, hopefully into the sunshine on Bredon Hill,” Mr Freestone said.

Ms Wright is from Mallerstang and has spent ten years shepherding and lambing.

Pitt had been lambed down at the Pig and Whistle.

1. Assorted.
2. Late 19th century, from hit someone hard.
3. Late 16th century from the Old Norse lamdi, as a past tense of lemja meaning to beat, cripple by beating, flog and akin to lame. It’s related to the Norwegian and the Danish lamme meaning paralyze.