lam off

(slang) To shirk; to be lazy.

A lamster is old American slang for someone who's on the run from the law — a fugitive who's taken it on the lam. The word comes from the thieves' cant phrase on the lam, meaning to flee. It has a vintage, noir quality: hardboiled detectives and crime pulp writers would have used lamster naturally. Rarely heard today but still understood.

American slang, largely dated, for a person fleeing from law enforcement or justice. Closely related to 'on the lam', the lamster is actively running, hiding, or evading arrest. The term has a distinctly mid-20th century crime fiction feel -- you would find it in hardboiled detective novels more than modern news coverage. Still understood but rarely used outside deliberately vintage or noir contexts.

A dual-meaning slang phrase. In dated British usage it meant to arrest or transport someone to prison. In more modern and widely used sense it means to slack off or be lazy. The shirking sense is the one most likely to be understood today, while the arresting sense belongs to older criminal cant.

(slang, dated) To arrest; to take to prison.