flam

plural flams

1. countableuncountableA freak or whim; an idle fancy.
2. archaiccountableuncountableA falsehood; a lie; an illusory pretext

   a perpetual abuse and flam upon posterity

   1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London

   1 more example

   all Pretences, or Pleas of Conscience, to the contrary, are nothing but Cant and Cheat, Flam and Delusion.

   1692, Robert South, "A Further Account of the Nature and Measures of Conscience", in Forty Eight Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions (published 1697)

   Synonyms: deception, delusion

present singular third person flams · participle present flamming · participle past flammed · past flammed

1. obsoleteTo deceive with a falsehood.

   God is not to be flammed off with Lyes.

   1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London

plural flams

1. drummingTwo taps (a grace note followed by a full-volume tap) played very close together in order to sound like one slightly longer note.

present singular third person flams · participle present flamming · participle past flammed · past flammed

1. ambitransitivedrummingTo play (notes as) a flam.

   Drums ruffled and flammed.

   1975, George Shipway, Free Lance, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P, →ISBN

   1 more example

   We will commence to flam the notes now, as most of them are flammed when you play a March.

   1923, Edward B. Straight, The Straight System of Modern Drumming: The "Natural Way" to Play Drums, page 10