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2 definitions found

From: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

 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.

From: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

 A·bra·ham-man or A·bram-man n.  One of a set of vagabonds who formerly roamed through England, feigning lunacy for the sake of obtaining alms.
 To sham Abraham, to feign sickness. --Goldsmith.