lame

Origin:
before 900; Middle English (adj. and v.); Old English lama (adj.); cognate with Dutch lam, German lahm, Old Norse lami; akin to Lithuanian lúomas

Related forms

lame·ly, adverb

lame·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun, plural lames

[leym; French lam] . Armor.

any of a number of thin, overlapping plates composing a piece of plate armor, as a fauld, tasset, or gauntlet.

Origin:
1580–90; < Middle French < Latin lāmina a thin piece or plate

noun

an ornamental fabric in which metallic threads, as of gold or silver, are woven with silk, wool, rayon, or cotton.

Origin:
1920–25; < French, equivalent to lame lame² + -é < Latin -ātus -ate¹

Can be confused: lame, lamé.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

lame¹ (leɪm)

—*adj*
1.	disabled or crippled in the legs or feet
2.	painful or weak: a lame back
3.	weak; unconvincing: a lame excuse
4.	not effective or enthusiastic: a lame try
5.	slang (US) conventional or uninspiring

—vb
6.	(tr) to make lame

[Old English lama; related to Old Norse lami, German lahm]

'lamely¹

—*adv*

'lameness¹

—n

lame² (leɪm)

—n
	one of the overlapping metal plates used in armour after about 1330; splint

[C16: via Old French from Latin lāmina a thin plate, lamina]

lamé (ˈlɑːmeɪ)

—n
	a. a fabric of silk, cotton, or wool interwoven with threads of metal
	b. (as modifier): a gold lamé gown

[from French, from Old French lame gold or silver thread, thin plate, from Latin lāmina thin plate]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

lame

O.E. lama. from P.Gmc. *lamon (cf. O.N. lami, Du., O.Fris. lam, Ger. lahm "lame"), "weak-limbed," lit. "broken," from PIE base *lem- "to break" (cf. O.C.S. lomiti "to break," Lith. luomas "lame"). Sense of "socially awkward" is attested from 1942. Verb meaning "to make lame" is attested from c.1300.

Related: Lamely; lameness. Lame-brain (n.) is first recorded 1929.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

lame (lām)
adj. lam·er, lam·est

Disabled so that movement, especially walking, is difficult or impossible.
Marked by pain or rigidness.

v. lamed, lam·ing, lames
To cause to become lame; cripple.

Slang Dictionary

lame definition

and laine; lane

mod.
inept; inadequate; undesirable. : That guy's so lame, it's pitiful.
n.
a squareperson. (Streets. Underworld.) : Let's see if that lame over there has anything we want in his pockets.
n.
an inept person. : The guy turned out to be a lame, and we had to fire him.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

Example sentences

His pokes at the industry and various stars were lame, and the audience didn't

seem to want him there anyway.

When he stands her up and offers a lame excuse, she has to decide whether to

believe him.

So, no impact and images of engineers with either lame social skills or raging

office politics.

Spirit's busted wheel is not the only lame limb on the now aging rovers.

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Matching Quote

"...I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth."

-unknown author

lame

lame

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la·mé

lame definition