the.com/lam

means To flee suddenly, especially to escape from the police or custody — as in being 'on the lam.'

from From an older slang verb 'lam' meaning to beat or thrash soundly, likely related to a Scandinavian root (compare Old Norse 'lemja,' to beat). That sense of a heavy, pounding blow slid into the idea of pounding the pavement — hitting the road hard and fast — and by the late 1800s American criminal slang had turned 'lam' into shorthand for bolting from the law.