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Sunday September 20, 2009

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lambaste [lam-BAYST]

transitive verb

1. To beat severely, to thrash or assault.
2. To scold or criticize severely; to attack verbally; berate.

• Olbermann struck first, declaring on the air that he had not agreed to a truce. He went on to mock O'Reilly and lambaste Murdoch for trying to "muzzle Bill-O."
  Matea Gold, "Now it's time to play the feud; Fierce attacks between cable commentators O'Reilly, Olbermann pay off for Fox", Chicago Tribune, Aug 18, 2009
• While gossipmongers lambaste Ed Swiderski for cheating on Bachelorette Jillian Harris, her closest friends say the reality TV couple have already moved past the scandal.
  Alexandra Burroughs, "No love lost for Bachelorette; Alberta native wants to move past tabloid reports of infidelity", The Gazette, Aug 12, 2009
• An'--an' I was goin' to lick you! I was goin' to lambaste you. Because I was a beastlier beast than YOU be. I was goin' to do it because you was so much better than me that you was made sick by my bein' a hawg.
  Albert Payson Terhune (1872 - 1942) An American author and journalist. His Dog (1922)

Origin of the Word

Lambaste, approximately 1637, derives from lam, "to beat, to lame"+ baste "to thrash."