on the lam

idiom

US, informal
: trying to avoid being caught by the police
two escaped convicts on the lam

Examples of on the lam in a Sentence

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The film follows his time living for months in a Toys R Us while on the lam in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2004. Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Oct. 2025 The last of 10 inmates who had been on the lam following a New Orleans jailbreak in May has been captured, police said Wednesday. Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2025 This poor man, who had undiagnosed schizophrenia in these giant sweeping landscapes with just the wind and frozen corn, and no one to talk to, an abusive mother, a brother who’s out on the lam. William Earl, Variety, 4 Oct. 2025 The suspect on the lam in Holliday Park — around 30 pounds, ash gray, pronounced snout — will not respond to reason, pleas, threats or bargains. Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 3 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for on the lam

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Cite this Entry

“On the lam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/on%20the%20lam. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.

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