What is "lame"

Lame \Lame\ (l[=a]m), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lamed (l[=a]md); p. pr. & vb. n. Laming.] To make lame.

If you happen to let child fall and lame it.
--Swift.

Lame \Lame\ (l[=a]m), a. [Compar. Lamer (l[=a]m"[~e]r); superl. Lamest.] [OE. lame, AS. lama; akin to D. lam, G. lahm, OHG., Dan., & Sw. lam, Icel. lami, Russ. lomate to break, lomota rheumatism.]

1. 1. Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect, or temporary obstruction of a function; as, a lame leg, arm, or muscle.

   2. To some degree disabled by reason of the imperfect action of a limb; crippled; as, a lame man. ``Lame of one leg.''
      --Arbuthnot. ``Lame in both his feet.''
      --2 Sam. ix. 13. ``He fell, and became lame.''
      --2 Sam. iv. 4.

2. Hence, hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect; as, a lame answer. ``A lame endeavor.'' --Barrow. O, most lame and impotent conclusion! --Shak. Lame duck

   1. (Stock Exchange), a person who can not fulfill his contracts. [Cant]

   2. An elected politician who is completing a term after having been defeated at an election; also, an office holder who cannot or chooses not to run again for the same office; -- So called from the presumed lack of political power of one who is soon to be out of office. (b) Any office holder who is serving out a term after a replacement has been selected.

"silk interwoven with metallic threads," 1922, from French lame, earlier "thin metal plate (especially in armor), gold wire; blade; wave (of the sea)," from Middle French lame, from Latin lamina, lamna "thin piece or flake of metal."

Old English lama "crippled, lame; paralytic, weak," from Proto-Germanic *lamon (cognates: Old Norse lami, Dutch and Old Frisian lam, German lahm "lame"), "weak-limbed," literally "broken," from PIE root *lem- "to break; broken," with derivatives meaning "crippled" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic lomiti "to break," Lithuanian luomas "lame"). In Middle English, "crippled in the feet," but also "crippled in the hands; disabled by disease; maimed." Sense of "socially awkward" is attested from 1942. Noun meaning "crippled persons collectively" is in late Old English.

"to make lame," c.1300, from lame (adj.). Related: Lamed; laming.

Etymology 1

1. 1 unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs. 2 Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect or temporary obstruction of a function. 3 (context by extension English) Hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect. 4 (context slang English) unconvincing or unbelievable. 5 (context slang English) fail to be cool, funny, interesting or relevant. 6 (context slang English) Strangely corny or sweet to an extent. v

2. (context transitive English) to cause a person or animal to become lame Etymology 2

   n. 1 A lamin

   1. 2 (context in the plural English) A set of joined, overlapping metal plates. Etymology 3

      v

   2. (context obsolete English) To shine.

1. adj. pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness; "a feeble excuse"; "a lame argument" [syn: feeble]

2. (of horses) disabled in the feet or legs [syn: spavined]

3. disabled in the feet or legs; "a crippled soldier"; "a game leg" [syn: crippled, halt, halting, game]

v. deprive of the use of a limb, especially a leg; "The accident has crippled her for life" [syn: cripple]

1. n. someone who doesn't understand what is going on [syn: square]

2. a fabric interwoven with threads of metal; "she wore a gold lame dress"

Lamé may refer to:

• Lamé (fabric), a clothing fabric with metallic strands
• Lamé (fencing), a jacket used for detecting hits
• Lamé (crater) on the Moon
• Ngeté-Herdé language, also known as Lamé, spoken in Chad
• Peve language, also known as Lamé after its chief dialect, spoken in Chad and Cameroon
• Lamé, a couple of the Masa languages of West Africa
• Amy Lamé (born 1971), British radio presenter
• Gabriel Lamé (1795–1870), French mathematician

In fencing, a lamé is an electrically conductive jacket worn by foil and sabre fencers in order to define the scoring area (which is different for each weapon). Foil lamés, although traditionally a metallic grey, are becoming more and more popular in an array of colors. In foil, the lamé extends on the torso from the shoulders to the groin area, including the back. In sabre, the lamé covers both arms, the torso from the shoulders to the waist, and the back. Lamés used in higher-level competitions usually have the last name and country of their owner printed in blue across the back. In addition, sabre fencers wear masks that allow them to register head touches, and manchettes, which are conductive glove covers, on their weapon hand. Lamés are wired by use of a body cord to a scoring machine, which allows the other person's weapon to register touches when their blades (or tips, in foil) contact the lamé. Lamés are most commonly made of a polyester jacket, overlain with a thin, interwoven metal, usually steel or copper, which gives them a metallic grayish look.

Lamé is a lunar impact crater located astride the northeast rim of the crater Langrenus, to the east of Mare Fecunditatis. The eastern crater rim appears overlaid by a series of overlapping craters that form an intermittent chain flowing nearly a hundred kilometers to the south. The crater rim protrudes only slightly above the surrounding terrain, but it has a significant rampart where the rim lies within Vendelinus. In the middle of the floor is a slight ridge, forming a central peak.

On some older maps this crater was called Smith. It was previously designated Vendelinus C before being renamed by the IAU.

Lamé is a type of fabric woven or knit with thin ribbons of metallic fiber, as opposed to guipé, where the ribbons are wrapped around a fibre yarn. It is usually gold or silver in color; sometimes copper lamé is seen. Lamé comes in different varieties, depending on the composition of the other threads in the fabric. Common examples are tissue lamé, hologram lamé and pearl lamé.

An issue with lamé is that it is subject to seam or yarn slippage, making it less than ideal for garments with frequent usage. Lamé is often used in evening and dress wear and in theatrical and dance costumes. It was, at one time, ubiquitous as a favourite material in futuristic costumes for science fiction television and films.

Lamé is also used for its conductive properties in the sport of fencing to make the overjackets (called lamés) that allow touches to be scored.

Lamé was used in the making of the ephod.

A lame is a double-sided blade that is used to slash the tops of bread loaves in artisan baking. A lame is used to score (also called slashing or docking) bread just before the bread is placed in the oven. Often the blade's cutting edge will be slightly concave-shaped, which allows users to cut flaps (called shag) considerably thinner than would be possible with a traditional straight razor.

A slash on the loaf's surface allows the dough to properly expand in the oven without tearing the skin or crust and also allows moisture to escape from the loaf. It also releases some of the gas, mainly carbon dioxide, that is trapped inside the dough. Proper scoring also allows the baker to control exactly where the loaf will open or bloom. This significantly improves the appearance of baked breads. Scoring, finally, creates varieties in forms and appearance. It brings out the bread baker's artistic talent, allowing a unique signature.

A lame is a solid piece of sheet metal used as a component of a larger section of plate armor. Multiple lames are riveted together or connected by leather straps or cloth lacing to form an articulated piece of armor that provides flexible protection. The armor worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan used lames in the construction of many of their individual armor parts.