Find the word definition

The Collaborative International Dictionary
To sham Abraham

Sham \Sham\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shammed; p. pr. & vb. n. Shamming.]

  1. To trick; to cheat; to deceive or delude with false pretenses.

    Fooled and shammed into a conviction.
    --L'Estrange.

  2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition. [R.]

    We must have a care that we do not . . . sham fallacies upon the world for current reason.
    --L'Estrange.

  3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.

    To sham Abram or To sham Abraham, to feign sickness; to malinger. Hence a malingerer is called, in sailors' cant, Sham Abram, or Sham Abraham.

To sham Abraham

Abraham-man \A"bra*ham-man`\or Abram-man \A"bram-man`\, n. [Possibly in allusion to the parable of the beggar Lazarus in Luke xvi.
--Murray (New Eng. Dict. ).] One of a set of vagabonds who formerly roamed through England, feigning lunacy for the sake of obtaining alms.
--Nares.

To sham Abraham, to feign sickness.
--Goldsmith.