lamb

¹

[ lam ]

noun

1. a young sheep.
2. the meat of a young sheep.
3. a person who is gentle, meek, innocent, etc.:

   Their little daughter is such a lamb.

4. a person who is easily cheated or outsmarted, especially an inexperienced speculator.
5. the Lamb, Christ.

verb (used without object)

1. to give birth to a lamb.

Lamb

²

[ lam ]

noun

1. Charles Elia, 1775–1834, English essayist and critic.
2. Harold A., 1892–1962, U.S. novelist.
3. Mary Ann, 1764–1847, English author who wrote in collaboration with her brother Charles Lamb.
4. William, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, 1779–1848, English statesman: prime minister 1834, 1835–41.
5. Willis E(ugene), Jr., 1913–2008, U.S. physicist: Nobel Prize 1955.

Lamb

¹

/ læm /

noun

1. LambCharles17751834MEnglishWRITING: essayistWRITING: critic Charles, pen name Elia. 1775–1834, English essayist and critic. He collaborated with his sister Mary on Tales from Shakespeare (1807). His other works include Specimens of English Dramatic Poets (1808) and the largely autobiographical essays collected in Essays of Elia (1823; 1833)
2. William. See (2nd Viscount) Melbourne 2
3. LambWillis Eugene19132008MUSSCIENCE: physicist Willis Eugene. 1913–2008, US physicist. He detected the small difference in energy between two states of the hydrogen atom ( Lamb shift ). Nobel prize for physics 1955

lamb

²

/ læm /

noun

1. the young of a sheep
2. the meat of a young sheep
3. a person, esp a child, who is innocent, meek, good, etc
4. a person easily deceived
5. like a lamb to the slaughter
   1. without resistance
   2. innocently

verb

1. Alsolamb down intr (of a ewe) to give birth
2. tr; used in the passive (of a lamb) to be born
3. intr (of a shepherd) to tend the ewes and newborn lambs at lambing time

Lamb

³

/ læm /

noun

1. the Lamb
   a title given to Christ in the New Testament

Derived Forms

• ˈlambˌlike, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lamb¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch lam, German Lamm, Old Norse, Gothic lamb; akin to Greek élaphos “deer”; elk

Word History and Origins

Origin of lamb¹

Old English lamb, from Germanic; compare German Lamm, Old High German and Old Norse lamb

Idioms and Phrases

see hanged for a sheep (as a lamb) ; in two shakes (of a lamb's tail) ; like a lamb to the slaughter .

Example Sentences

It is understood that red meat makes up the majority of the seizures, but the exact breakdown of beef, pork and lamb is not known.

From BBC

Far from being lambs led to the slaughter – a phrase sometimes used in Israel to refer to the Nazi Holocaust – Israel, he said, was winning.

From BBC

She added: "Who needs 25 PAs? They enabled this situation and left us like lambs to the slaughter."

From BBC

For her main dish, finalist Stephanie Izard made a lamb course with mushrooms, pistachios and a blackberry and olive tapenade; I remember being utterly fascinated by the combination of colors and flavors.

From Salon

For larger gatherings, the table becomes a true feast, with generous servings of rice, various stews, lamb, fish, chicken, duck and an array of appetizers.

From Salon

Related Words

• fish