See Also: lame(dictionary)
lame(dictionary)
lame(4)(dictionary)
lame(3)(dictionary)
lame(2)(dictionary)
lame(1)(dictionary)
lame(medicine)
Lame Duck(money)
lame 1, adjective(dictionary)
lame 2, verb(dictionary)

lame(1) (iou)



lame adjective.
[Old English lama = Old Frisian lam, lom, Old Saxon lamo (Dutch lam), Old High German lam (German lahm), Old Norse lami, from Germanic adjective meaning 'weak in the limbs', rel. to Old High German luomi dull, slack, gentle.]
Crippled, disabled; weak, infirm. Foll. by on, of the affected part. arch. OE.
E. Grimstone A Germaine..who was lame of halfe his body, and simple.
b. Imperfect, defective, unsatisfactory, (foll. by of, in the defective part). Now chiefly of an excuse, narrative, etc.: weak, unconvincing. LME.
Shakespeare Othello Being not deficient, blind, or lame of sense. TV Guide (Canada) It suffers from weak jokes, lame characters andunderstandablycanned laughter.
c. Of a person: unskilled in the fashionable behaviour of a particular group; socially inept. US slang. M20.
Time Anyone who does not know that is obviously lame...or perhaps just over 25.
spec. Crippled through injury to, or defect in, a limb. Now only, disabled in the foot or leg, so as to walk awkwardly and with difficulty. Also foll. by in, of, on, with the affected part. OE.
D. Caute Rodney says Thumper is lame in his right foreleg. absol.: Bible (AV): Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
b. Of a limb (now only of the leg or foot): functioning imperfectly or painfully. ME.
S. Johnson Her present qualifications for the niceties of needlework being dim eyes and lame fingers.
c. Of footsteps: halting. Also fig. (of metrical feet or verses): metrically defective. LME.
Special collocations & comb.: lame-brain colloq. a dull-witted or stupid person. lame-brained adjective dull-witted, stupid. lame duck: see DUCK noun1.
lamely adverb L16.
lameness noun M16.