flam meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

flam

noun

/flæm/

Etymology 17th century; from flim-flam, itself perhaps from a dialectal word or Scandinavian; compare Old Norse flim (“lampoon, mockery”).

A freak or whim; an idle fancy.

Archaic A falsehood; a lie; an illusory pretext

all Pretences, or Pleas of Conscience, to the contrary, are nothing but Cant and Cheat, Flam and Delusion.1692, Robert South, "A Further Account of the Nature and Measures of Conscience", in Forty Eight Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions (published 1697)
a perpetual abuse and flam upon posterity1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

verb

Etymology 17th century; from flim-flam, itself perhaps from a dialectal word or Scandinavian; compare Old Norse flim (“lampoon, mockery”).

Obsolete To deceive with a falsehood.

God is not to be flammed off with Lyes.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

noun

Etymology Imitative.

Two taps (a grace note followed by a full-volume tap) played very close together in order to sound like one slightly longer note.

verb

Etymology Imitative.

Ambitransitive To play (notes as) a flam.

We will commence to flam the notes now, as most of them are flammed when you play a March.1923, Edward B. Straight, The Straight System of Modern Drumming: The "Natural Way" to Play Drums, page 10:
Drums ruffled and flammed.1975, George Shipway, Free Lance, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P, →ISBN:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.