| 释义 |
▪ I. lam, n.1|læm|
[? f. lam v. (sense 2 b).]
A kind of fishing net. Also lam-net. (Cf. lammet.)
1626Spelman Gloss. s.v. Lama, Sed nos hodie retis genus quo vtuntur piscatores, a lam vocamus. 1895E. Angl. Gloss., Lam net, a net into which fish are driven by beating the water.
▪ II. lam, n.2 Weaving.|læm|
[ad. F. lame (lit. ‘blade’) in the same sense.]
(See quot. 1883.)
1801J. Butterworth in A. Barlow Weaving (1878) 317 The generality of weavers couple the first and third healds or shafts, and so are enabled to weave it with only two lams. 1883Almondb. & Huddersf. Gloss., Lams, pieces of wood in a loom, connected with the treadles by strings, which are connected also with the jacks (above) in a similar way, and work the yelds.
▪ III. lam, n.3 U.S. slang.|læm|
[f. lam v. 3.]
Escape, flight. Esp. in phr. on the lam, on the run; take it on the (or a) lam (see quot. 1935).
1897Appleton's Pop. Sci. Monthly Apr. 832 To do a lam, meaning to run. 1904‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing xiii. 263 He plugged the main guy for keeps and I took it on a lam for mine. 1931[see area-way s.v. area 2 b]. 1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 118/2 Take it on the lam, to run away; escape. 1953W. R. Burnett Vanity Row xiii. 94 The dolly was on the lam. 1959John o' London's 10 Dec. 322/3 A young man stops the car, points a gun at them, and orders them to drive him to the border. He is a juvenile delinquent, ‘on the lam’ after a robbery. 1968Washington Post 5 July A20/1 What useful public purpose is served by making it easy for convicts on the lam from a state penitentiary to acquire an arsenal? 1972G. Baxt Burning Sappho ix. 158 Were you stalling for time while your Brunhilde takes it on the lam?
▪ IV. lam, v.|læm|
Forms: 6–8 lamme, lamb, 7 lambe, 8 lamm, 6– lam.
[Cf. ON. lęmja (pa. tense lamða), lit. ‘to lame’ (= OE. lęmian, f. lama lame), but chiefly used with reference to beating.]
1. trans. To beat soundly; to thrash; to ‘whack’. Now colloq. or vulgar.
1595[implied in belam]. 1596Thomas Dict. (1606), Defusto, to lamme or bumbast with strokes. 1631Celestina ix. 111 They will not sticke to strip them and lamme them soundly. 1719Ozell tr. Misson's Mem. 306 A Fellow, whom he lamb'd most horribly. 1783Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) 1, Lammed, Verberatus. 1812H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., G. Barnwell, Quoth he, I would pummel and lam her well. 1869F. H. Ludlow Little Bro. 16, I wish I'd been there; I'd ha' lammed him, I would!
transf.1898Westm. Gaz. 20 July 7/2 The Lancashire amateur..woke up in astonishing fashion and lammed the ball in every direction to the delight of all beholders.
2. a. intr. Chiefly school-boy slang, as to lam (it) into one, to lam out.
1875A. R. Hope My Schoolboy Fr. 179 ‘I had six cuts..and Vialls did lam into me.’ 1882‘F. Anstey’ Vice Versâ (ed. 19) 84 ‘Let him undress now, and we can lam it into him afterwards with slippers.’ 1894Conan Doyle Round Red Lamp 276 ‘Lam out with your whip as hard as you can lick.’
b. dial. (See quot.) Cf. lam n.1
1895E. Angl. Gloss., Lamming for eels, thrashing the water to make the eels go into a net.
3. intr. To run off, to escape, to ‘beat it’. U.S. slang.
1886A. Pinkerton Thirty Yrs. a Detective 41 After he [sc. a pickpocket] has secured the wallet he will..utter the word ‘lam!’ This means to let the man go, and to get out of the way as soon as possible. 1901Smart Set Oct. 3/2 Well, when he [sc. Uncle Remus] was just driven to desperation he ‘lammed aloose’, and so shall I. 1932Evening Sun (Baltimore) 9 Dec. 31/5 Lam, run away from the police. 1935R. E. Sherwood Petrified Forest ii. 124 Say, boss—we better lam out of here. Ibid. 158, I hear a car coming, boss. We better lam. Ibid. 162 When they get around there, we'll lam. 1946‘P. Quentin’ Puzzle for Fiends (1947) xvi. 111 When I get my share, I'll lam out of this place so fast you won't see me for dust. 1959P. Townend Died o' Wednesday iv. 61 What was it they always did in any self-respecting cowboy film?—lammed out..and took to the hills. 1973M. Mackintosh King & Two Queens xii. 171 The time of death..[was] four days before Fisher lammed out.
Hence ˈlamming vbl. n., a beating, a thrashing; ˈlamster, ˈlammister, a fugitive, a person on the run.
1611Beaum. & Fl. King & no K. v. iii, One whose dull body will require a lamming. 1611Cotgr., Gaulée,..a cudgelling, basting, thwacking, lamming. 1883Almondb. & Huddersf. Gloss., Lammin, i.e. lamming, a beating. 1904‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 250 Lamaster, fugitive from justice; one who forfeits bail-bonds. 1926Clues Nov. 161/2 Lamster, fugitive. Also a member of a pickpocket gang that leaves with the loot. 1948E. L. Irey Tax Dodgers (1949) 47 ‘My line,’ he said, ‘is keeping quiet.’ With that he had told Kelly that he was a lammister, in other words fleeing justice. 1953W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) ix. 81 Gamblers, perverts, drifters, and lamsters from every state in the Union. 1962K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed xii. 81 Smuggling American lamsters into Canada.
▪ V. lam
obs. form of lamb, lame, loam. |