▪ I. lamb, n.
(læm)
Forms: α. 1 lam(b, lamp, lęmb, 2, 4–6 lam, 4–6 lame, 4–7 lambe, 5–6 lamme, 7 lamm, 2– lamb. pl. 1 lamb, 3 lambre, Orm. lammbre, 3–5 lambren, 4 lamberne, 4–5 lambryn, 5 lamber, lamborn, lambres, lambron, 6 lambes, (lames, Sc. lammis), 6– lambs. β. 1–5 lomb, lombor, 2–5 lombe, 3 lombbe, 4 lome, loombe, (lowmpe), 4–5 loomb, 5 loom. pl. 1 lomber, lombern, lombor, lombro, lombur, 3 lombren.
[Com. Teut.: OE. lamb, lambor (lǫmb, lǫmbor), lęmb str. neut., corresponds to OS. lamb (Du., MLG. lam), OHG. lamb (MHG. lam(b, lamp, mod.G. lamm), ON. lamb (Sw. lamm, Da. lam), Goth. lamb:—OTeut. *lamboz-, *lambiz-; no certain extra-Teut. affinities have been found.
The regular pl. form in OE. was lǫmberu (*lamberu):—OTeut. *lambozâ; there were disyllabic forms produced by omission of the final or syncopation of the middle vowel; the occasional form lamb is due to the analogy of animal names of the o declension. In ME. the plural was assimilated to that of the -n declension (cf. children, calveren, brethren).]
1. a. The young of the sheep.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) E 216 Enixa est genuit agnam idest ceolbor lomb. c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxiii. 6 Muntas for hwon uphofun ᵹe swe swe rommas & hyllas swe swe lomberu scepa. 858 Charter of æthelberht in O.E. Texts 438, xx lamba & xx fehta. a 900 Kent. Glosses in Wr.-Wülcker 61/29 Et quasi agnus lasciuiens, and swa pleᵹende lamp. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke x. 3 Ic sendo iuih sua lombro bi-tuih ulfum. c 1000 ælfric Exod. xii. 5 Witodlice þæt lamb sceal beon anwintre pur lamb clæne and unwemme. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 87 Þet i-offrede lomb þet þe engel het offrian bitacneð cristes deðþe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 66 Monie cumeð to ou ischrud mid lombes fleose, & beoð wode wulues. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7609 Wolues dede hii nimeþ vorþ, þat er dude as lombe. a 1300 Cursor M. 11302 Wit hir child suld offer þare, A lamb if sco sua riche ware. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 229, Iabel..departide kydes from lambren. c 1425 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 801 Humylyte was the furst: a lambe he bestrode. c 1440 Jacob's Well 38 Þe tythe owyth to be payed of lambryn. 1486 Bk. St. Albans C vij b, Take pressure made of a lombe that was borne in vntyme. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxviii. 18 He for our saik that sufferit to be slane, And lyk a lamb in sacrifice wes dicht, Is lyk a lyone rissin vp agane. 1535 Coverdale Is. lxv. 25 The wolff and the lambe shal fede together. a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. xx, Bludy berkit wes thair baird, As thay had worriet lammis. 1586 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 21 Item receaved of Nicolas Newbye for twoe lames..ijs. vjd. 1621 Middleton Sun in Aries Wks. (Bullen) VII. 348 Illustrated by proper emblems..as..Sincerity by a Lamb. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 645 Ewes and thir bleating Lambs. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 26 The poor defenceless Lamb,..Supplies a rich Repast. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 111 Sheepwalks populous with bleating lambs. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab viii. 128 His teeth are harmless, custom's force has made His nature as the nature of a lamb. 1884 Ruskin Pleas. Eng. (1885) 133 A Lamb means an Apostle, a Lion an Evangelist. |
| transf. and fig. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 87 Yf we be hys trew shepe, fruytfull in wolle of verteues..and in lambren of good dedes. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iv. 97 Alas poor Proteus, thou hast entertain'd A Foxe, to be the Shepheard of thy Lambs. |
b. Proverbs.
| 1620 Shelton Quix. ii. vii. 40 As soone goes the yong lambe to the roste, as the olde sheepe. 1748 Richardson Clarissa I. x. 60 In for the lamb, as the saying is, in for the sheep. 1768 [see god 5 b]. Mod. As well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. |
2. fig. Applied to persons.
a. A young member of a flock,
esp. of the church.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xxi. 15 He cwæð to him heald mine lamb [c 950 Lindisf., c 1160 Hatton lombor]. c 1200 Ormin 13329 To stanndenn gæn þe laþe gast, To werenn hise lammbre. a 1225 St. Marher. 12 Icham mi lauerdes lomb, ant he is min hirde. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶718 Therfore shul they neuere han part of the pasture of lambes, that is the blisse of heuene. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 2 To shewe the waye of vertue to his yonge pilgrymes & tender lambes. 1761 Wesley Jrnl. 21 Jan. (1827) III. 38, I spent a hour with one who was as hot as any of the lambs at the tabernacle; but she is now a calm, reasonable woman. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 361 Leolin, I almost sin in envying you: The very whitest lamb in all my fold Loves you. |
b. One who is as meek, gentle, innocent, or weak as a lamb.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 390 He ᵹefullode ðone wulf and ᵹeworhte to lambe. 13.. Cursor M. 20010 + 671 (B.M. Add. MS.) Iesu crist, godes sone, of a wilde hounde haþ made a lomb. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxiii. 391 Maria. Alas, my lam so mylde, whi wille thou fare me fro Emang thise wulfes wylde. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lii. 4 He is na Dog; he is a Lam. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. (Arb.) 299 It is comely for a man to be a lambe in the house, and a Lyon in the field. 1819 Shelley Cenci ii. i. 136 Innocent lambs! They thought not any ill. 1858 Lytton What will he do i. xiv, The Baron was a lamb compared to a fine lady. |
c. used as a term of endearment.
| a 1553 Udall Royster D. i. iv. (Arb.) 27 Ah sir, be good to hir, she is but as gristle, Ah sweete lambe and coney. 1673 Kirkman Unlucky Cit. 165 But Lamb [sc. his wife], you mistake the matter quite. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iii. (1841) I. 59 To hear the dear lamb ask me, Father, will not God be angry with me. 1820 Shelley Fiordispina 76 And say, sweet lamb, would you not learn [etc.]? |
d. A simpleton; one who is cheated;
esp. one who speculates and loses his money.
| 1668 Leathermore's Adv. conc. Gaming (ed. 2) 5 When a young Gentleman or Prentice comes into this School of Vertue unskil'd in the quibbles and devices there practiced, they call him a Lamb. 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester (ed. 2) 5 And then the Rooks..laugh and grin, saying the Lamb is bitten. 1881 J. Mills Too fast to last III. x. 127 ‘In order—That we may not be among the skinned lambs’, interrupted William Bottles. 1884 Chicago Tribune Feb., ‘Lamb’ is an outsider who goes into the market and leaves his money. 1886 Gladden Applied Chr. 204 A recent estimate..puts the amount of which the ‘lambs’ are shorn in this New York stock market alone at eight hundred million dollars a year. |
3. a. the Lamb,
† God's Lamb,
the Lamb of God. (After John i. 29,
Rev. xvii. 14, etc.)
| a 1000 Guthlac 1015 (Gr.) Ic siððan mot..godes lomber in sindreamum siððan awo forð folᵹian. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John i. 29 Her is godes lamb, her is se þe deð aweᵹ middaneardes synnæ. c 1200 Ormin 12649 Crist Wass Godess Lamb ȝehatten. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 413 My lorde þe lombe, þurȝ hys god-hede, He toke my self to hys maryage. 1340 Ayenb. 232 Volȝeþ þet lamb of mildenesse þet is Iesu crist. a 1400 Prymer (1891) 68 Loomb of god..haue mercy on us. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 53 Þis lomb, y spak of him Þat al þe worldis synne a-batys. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 43 That Lamb for sober summe was sauld. 1611 Bible Rev. xxii. 1 A pure riuer of water of life..proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lambe. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 792 One song employs all nations, and all cry, ‘Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain for us!’ 1842 Tennyson St. Agnes' Eve 17 So shows my soul before the Lamb, My spirit before Thee. |
b. Her. Holy Lamb = Agnus Dei b.
| 1823 in Crabb Technol. Dict. 1843 Fosbroke Cycl. Antiq. 815 Holy-Lamb. This was anciently a lamb with St. John pointing to him, and was ordered to be changed into the human form by the Trullan canons made in 653. 1882 Cussans Her. vi. (ed. 3) 100 The Paschal or Holy Lamb is a Lamb passant supporting with its dexter fore-leg a staff, usually in bend-sinister, from which depends a Banner, charged with a Cross of St. George. |
4. pl. a. The name given to the proverbially cruel and rapacious soldiers of
Col. Kirke's regiment in 1684–6, in ironical allusion to the device of the Paschal Lamb on their flag.
b. The name given to bodies of ‘roughs’ hired to commit acts of violence at elections. (The ‘Nottingham Lambs’ were notorious about 1860–1870.)
| 1744 Ralph Hist. Eng. I. 888 So infamous was the Behaviour of his own particular Corps, that he [Kirke] him⁓self, by way of Irony, call'd them his Lambs; an appellation which was adopted by the whole West of England. 1757 Hume Hist. II. 387. 1844 Times 4 Nov. 5/2 Upwards of 200 ‘lambs’ were employed by the same political party to carry off voters. Note. ‘Lambs’..means ruffians employed at elections to impress upon the persons and property of the peaceable inhabitants the ‘physical force’ doctrine. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 334 As they had been levied for the purpose of waging war on an infidel nation, they bore on their flag a Christian emblem, the Paschal Lamb... These men, the rudest and most ferocious in the English army, were called Kirke's Lambs. 1869 Latest News 17 Oct., Samuel Dawson was examined at some length in reference to the employment of a number of ‘lambs’, or roughs, in Stracey's interest at the last election. |
5. In various applications.
a. The flesh of the lamb used as food.
| 1620 Venner Via Recta iii. 50 Lambe of two or three moneths old is the best. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 92 There is no flesh either more healthy or grateful than Lamb. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 123 Lamb or Mutton cut into small pieces. |
| fig. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas x. xii. (Rtldg.) 384 The happy man..seemed to be very little less happy than his partner..; and one would have sworn..that he liked mutton better than lamb. [Said of a bridegroom and his elderly bride.] |
b. short for
lambskin.
| 1527 Lanc. Wills (Chetham Soc.) I. 6 My gowne furrett w{supt} whyte lambe. 1567 R. Mulcaster Fortescue's De Laud. Leg. (1672) 123 b, The Serjeants Cape is ever Furred with white Lambe. 1889 Daily News 24 Dec. 2/7 Allow me to state what means are employed to procure the Persian lamb or Astrakhan. |
c. vegetable lamb:
= barometz.
| 1698 A. Brand Emb. Muscovy to China 125, I am not very apt to give credit to the Relations of the vulgar sort in Muscovy, among which, that of the Vegetable Lamm is a general received Fable. |
6. attrib. and
Comb.:
a. simple attributive, as
lamb-chop [
chop n.1 2 b] (also
fig.),
lamb-cote,
† lamb-fell,
lamb-flesh,
lamb-fold,
lamb-glove,
lamb-hurdle,
lamb-meadow,
lamb-shepherd,
lamb-trade.
b. objective, as
lamb-hymning,
lamb-shearing.
c. instrumental (sense 5 b) as
lamb-lined.
| c 1838 C. Mathews in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1973) IV. 136 He ate three pounds and a half of *lamb chops. 1865 Mrs. Stowe House & Home Papers 248 All the edible matters..would form those delicate dishes of lamb-chop. 1962 E. Lucia Klondike Kate ii. 40 Mrs Bettis was persistent and her daughter was quite a lamb chop, so he finally agreed. 1963 R. Carrier Great Dishes of World 145 Place lamb chops in a flat dish just large enough to hold them and pour marinade mixture over them. 1974 ‘E. Lathen’ Sweet & Low xvii. 165 Deep in a choice between lamb chops and pork chops. |
| 1459–60 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 320 Pro tectura apud le *lambecote. |
| c 1500 in Arnold Chron. (1811) 75 *Lambefelle for the C{ddd}i. d. |
| c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 78 Meene metys engendrys noght bolnynges ne superfluytes, as *lombe fflessh, motoun and Capouns. |
| 1884 Gilmour Mongols 91 Most of the west side [of the tent] was taken up by a *lamb-fold. |
| 1811 Self Instructor 121, 3 pair of fine *lamb gloves. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. (1807) I. 160 Fig. 7 represents a *lamb-hurdle. |
| a 1711 Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 366 As we wander o're the blissful Plains, You daily shall compose *Lamb-hymning strains. |
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. 706 A payr of *Lamb-lyn'd buskins on her feet. |
| 1459–60 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 320 Pro falcacione de le *Lammedowe. 1774 *Lamb-shearing [see lamb-ale in 7 below]. 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 139 Lamb-shearing has long been an established practice in East Cornwall and other parts. |
| a 1711 Ken Sion Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 331 May I, like you, sing the *Lamb-Shepherd's Love. |
| 1895 Daily News 31 May 8/7 *Lamb trade firm. |
7. a. Special
Comb.:
lamb-ale (see
quot.);
lambs'-cage (see
quot.);
lamb-creep, a hole in a hedge or hurdle just large enough for lambs to get in and out of the fold (see
creep n. 4);
lamb-emptied a., emptied of lambs;
lamb-fashion, after the fashion of a lamb; used in
prov. phr. mutton dressed lamb-fashion, applied to an old woman dressed in youthful style;
lamb-florin Hist., a florin stamped with the ‘Agnus Dei’;
lamb's fry (in
U.S. also
lamb fries) [
cf. fry n.2 2 b], in the
U.K. and
U.S., lamb's offal,
esp. testicles; in
Austral. and
N.Z., lamb's liver;
lamb-hog, a lamb of the second year;
lamb-house (see
quot.);
† lamb's-lease, a meadow in which lambs are reared;
† lamb's leather, lambskin;
lamb-ram, a ram under two years old;
lamb-stones, the testicles of a lamb;
lamb-suckler,
lamb-suckling (see
quots.).
| 1774 Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry (1840) III. 119 *Lamb-ale is still used at the village of Kirtlington in Oxfordshire, for an annual feast or celebrity at lamb-shearing. 1857 Toulmin Smith Parish 503 The ‘Ales’ were numerous. Brand mentions..Lamb-Ales, Leet-Ales, [etc.]. |
| 1813 T. Davis Agric. Wilts 264 *Lambs'-Cages, cribs for foddering sheep in fold; they are usually made semi-cylindrical, with cleft Ash-rods about six to seven feet long and about one foot diameter. |
| 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 167 If the ewes and lambs are folded, *lamb creeps can be brought into use. |
| 1898 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Rom. Canvass Town 96 The ewes of the *lamb-emptied small yard are then carefully counted out. |
| 1810 Splendid Follies I. 131 Ewe mutton without garnish is a tough bite, to be sure; but methinks she's dished herself off to day, *lamb-fashion. |
| 1885 R. Sharpe Cal. City Letters 107 The 170 *lamb-florins in their keeping. |
| 1822 W. Kitchiner Cook's Oracle (ed. 4) 492 *Lamb's fry. Fry it plain..garnish with crisp parsley. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 353, 1 lb. of lamb's fry. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., The product of lambs' castration are called lamb's-fries. 1891 Hardy Tess (1900) 8/2, I should like for supper,—well, lamb's fry. 1894 [see fry n.2 2 b]. 1936 S. E. Nash Cooking Craft (ed. 3) xii. 106 Lamb's fry consists of the liver, sweet⁓bread, heart, and some of the inside fat. 1944 H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. 345 Lamb fries, lamb's testicles. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 530 Lamb's fry, sliced lamb's offal, cooked as a rich stew. 1963 Rombauer & Becker Joy of Cooking (ed. 4) 449/1 Skin, cut into quarters: 4 medium lamb fries. 1966 Baker Austral. Lang. (ed. 2) iv. 83 We could pause to consider lambs' fry, as a euphemism for testicles from marked or castrated lambs... Our later use of lamb's fry for lamb liver is one of our most ‘refined’ additions. 1969 R. & D. De Sola Dict. Cooking 138 Lamb fries, lamb testicles. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 495 As, the first year, we call it in English a Lamb, so, the second year, a Hog, *Lam-hog, or Teg if it be a female. 1891 Times 28 Sept. 4/1 Lamb-hogs, 18s. to 28s. per head. |
| 1819 Rees Cycl. XX, *Lamb-house,..the place where lambs are fattened. |
| 1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answ. Nameless Cath. 58 Wherein, if the Reader obserue (as if he had beene brought vp in *Lambs-lease) he seemes for the most part very tenderly affected. |
| 1607 T. Cocks Acc. 27 Apr. (Canterb. Cath. Libr. MS. E. 31) *Lambes lether gloves 6d. |
| 1886 C. Scott Sheep Farming 74 A good strong *lamb ram will serve as many as twenty-five ewes without hurt. |
| a 1613 Overbury Charac., Ordinarie Fencer Wks. (1856) 112 For an inward bruise, *lambstones and sweet⁓breads are his onely sperma ceti which he eats at night. 1677 Compleat Servant-Maid 87 Put in Lamb-stones and sweetbreads. |
| 1819 Rees Cycl. XX, *Lamb-suckler,..a person who..carries on the business of fattening house-lamb. |
| Ibid., *Lamb-suckling,..the art of fattening house-lamb. |
b. In various plant names, as
lamb's cress,
Cardamine hirsuta;
lamb's lettuce = corn-salad (
Valerianella olitoria);
lamb's quarter(s, (
a)
Atriplex hastata or patula; (
b)
Chenopodium album;
lamb's tails, the catkins of the hazel,
Corylus Avellana;
lamb('s toe(s, a name for
Lotus corniculatus,
Anthyllis Vulneraria, and
Medicago lupulina. Also
lamb's tongue.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 24 Cersan sædes, sume men hatað *lambes cersan. a 1100 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 300/14 Thiaspis, lambescerse. 1882 in Friend Devonshire Plant-n. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. xxxv. §1. 242 *Lambes Lettuce. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 197 The young leaves of the species of Valerianella are eaten as salad, under the French name of Mâche, or the English one of Lamb's Lettuce. 1872 Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 192 Corn-salad, or Lamb's-lettuce..is eaten as a salad. |
| 1773 J. Hawkesworth Voy. III. 442 We also once or twice met with a plant like what the country people in England call *Lamb's quarters, or Fat-hen. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 233 A salad made of the ‘lamb's quarter’ (Chenopodium album), was found very useful. |
| 1882 Garden 4 Feb. 77/1 That modest kind of beauty which these catkins, ‘pussies’, and ‘*lambs'-tails’, as the country people call them, suggest. 1896 Warwicksh. Gloss., Lambs'-tails, the male catkins of hazel and filbert trees. |
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 94 Handfuls..of rose and *lambtoe sweet. |
Add:
[7.] [b.] lamb's ears (also
lamb's ear), any of several plants whose leaves are covered with soft white hairs;
esp. the labiate
Stachys byzantina, often grown in gardens.
| a 1876 E. Leigh Gloss. Dial. Cheshire (1877) 119 *Lamb's Ears, the Rose Campion. 1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants 252 Stachys..germanica, Common Wound-wort, Lamb's-ear. 1900 Dickinson & Prevost Gloss. Dial. Cumberland (rev. ed.) 192/1 Lamb's ear,..Hoary Plantain—Plantago media. 1905 Eng. Dial. Dict. III. 510/2 Lamb's-ears,..the premorse scabious. 1944 T. C. Mansfield Border in Colour 221 S[tachys] lanata..has white woolly leaves and is commonly called Lamb's Ears. 1988 Los Angeles Times 19 Mar. v. 4/1 Stachys, or lamb's ears, is the darling of the perennial bed. |
▪ II. lamb, v. (
læm)
[f. lamb n.] 1. trans. (
passive only.) To bear or bring forth; to ‘drop’ (a lamb).
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 5 It..inableth the lambe to seeke after a livinge soe soone as it is lambed. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Lamb, If he be like to dye when first Lambed, it is usual to open his Mouth and blow therein. 1793 Hollym Inclos. Act 13 A modus of one shilling a score of all lambs lambed and living at Midsummer. c 1817 Hogg Tales & Sk. IV. 199 The..shepherd.. found her with a new-yeaned lamb on the very gair of the Crawmel Craig, where she was lambed herself. 1829 Glover's Hist. Derby I. 214 Not one of these [rams] was lambed before Feb. 6, 1828. |
2. intr. To bring forth a lamb; to yean.
| 1611 Cotgr., Agneler, to lambe. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 5 An ewe putt into a goode pasture three weekes afore shee lambe, is as goode as to lett her goe in a goode pasture three weekes after. 1701 J. Brand Zetland (1703) 75 As for the sheep,..they Lamb not so soon as with us. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. p. xxii, Each ewe..lambing at two, three, and four years old. |
3. Of a shepherd: To tend (ewes) at lambing-time. Also,
to lamb down.
| 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. i. 76 The flocks are usually lambed down about the latter end of March. 1851 Ibid. XII. ii. 574 Every shepherd considers himself an adept at lambing his ewes. Mod. Advt., Wanted, a Cowman, one used to lamb-down a few Ewes preferred. |
4. lamb down.
Austral. [? a transferred use of sense 3.]
trans. a. To part with, pay down (money),
esp. recklessly. Also
absol.| 1890 Melbourne Argus 7 June 4/2 The paying off of drovers, the selling off of horses, the ‘lambing down’ of cheques. Ibid. 9 Aug. 4/5 The old woman, of course, thought that we were on gold, and would lamb down at the finish in her shanty. |
b. To induce (a person) to get rid of his money; to ‘clean out’. Also
absol.| 1873 M. Clarke Holiday Peak, etc. 21 Trowbridge's did not ‘lamb down’ so well as the Three Posts. 1890 Melbourne Argus 16 Aug. 4/7 One used to serve drinks in the bar, the other kept the billiard-table. Between them they lambed down more shearers and drovers than all the rest on the river. |
Hence
lambed ppl. a.,
ˈlambing (
down)
vbl. n.| 1611 Cotgr., Agnelé, lambed. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 599 Of the lambing of ewes. Ibid. 601 Think also what sort of care is bestowed on a newly lambed flock. 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. i. 76, I have kept 500 ewes in lamb this way..and had them in very high condition..on their lambing down. 1867 Gainsborough News 23 Mar., 200 lambed and in-lamb ewes and gimmers. 1873 J. B. Stephens Black Gin 51 It is the Bushman come to town..Come to do his ‘lambing down’. 1880 G. Walch Victoria in 1880. 130 The operation—combining equal parts of hocussing, over-charging, and direct robbery..and facetiously christened by bush landlords ‘lambing down’. |
▪ III. lamb obs. form of
lam v.