"sham Abraham" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "First attested in the late 18ᵗʰ century. From sham + Abraham man (“a beggar who pretends to be ill”)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "shams Abraham",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "shamming Abraham",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "shammed Abraham",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "shammed Abraham",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "sham Abraham (third-person singular simple present shams Abraham, present participle shamming Abraham, simple past and past participle shammed Abraham)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English Thieves' Cant",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1759, Oliver Goldsmith, The Works of Oliver Goldsmith, volume 3, published 1835, The Citizen of the World, Letter CXIX, page 331:",
          "text": "The boatswain found me, as he said, an obstinate fellow: he swore that I understood my business perfectly well, but that I shammed Abraham merely to be idle.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], Shirley. A Tale. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "Matthew, sceptic and scoffer, had already failed to subscribe a prompt belief in that pain about the heart: he had muttered some words, amongst which the phrase \"shamming Abraham\" had been very distinctly audible.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To pretend sickness or insanity."
      ],
      "hypernyms": [
        {
          "word": "shirk"
        }
      ],
      "id": "en-sham_Abraham-en-verb-zLRTYp3N",
      "links": [
        [
          "pretend",
          "pretend"
        ],
        [
          "sickness",
          "sickness"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "thieves' cant",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) To pretend sickness or insanity."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "Abraham sham"
        },
        {
          "word": "Abram sham"
        },
        {
          "word": "play possum"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "do Abram"
        },
        {
          "word": "chuck a sickie"
        },
        {
          "word": "pull a sickie"
        },
        {
          "word": "throw a sickie"
        },
        {
          "word": "sham Abram"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "idiomatic",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃæm ˈeɪ.bɹəˌhæm/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃæm ˈeɪ.bɹə.həm/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sham Abraham"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "First attested in the late 18ᵗʰ century. From sham + Abraham man (“a beggar who pretends to be ill”)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "shams Abraham",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "shamming Abraham",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "shammed Abraham",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "shammed Abraham",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "sham Abraham (third-person singular simple present shams Abraham, present participle shamming Abraham, simple past and past participle shammed Abraham)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "word": "shirk"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Abraham sham"
    },
    {
      "word": "Abram sham"
    },
    {
      "word": "play possum"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English Thieves' Cant",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1759, Oliver Goldsmith, The Works of Oliver Goldsmith, volume 3, published 1835, The Citizen of the World, Letter CXIX, page 331:",
          "text": "The boatswain found me, as he said, an obstinate fellow: he swore that I understood my business perfectly well, but that I shammed Abraham merely to be idle.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], Shirley. A Tale. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "Matthew, sceptic and scoffer, had already failed to subscribe a prompt belief in that pain about the heart: he had muttered some words, amongst which the phrase \"shamming Abraham\" had been very distinctly audible.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To pretend sickness or insanity."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "pretend",
          "pretend"
        ],
        [
          "sickness",
          "sickness"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "thieves' cant",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) To pretend sickness or insanity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "idiomatic",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃæm ˈeɪ.bɹəˌhæm/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃæm ˈeɪ.bɹə.həm/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "do Abram"
    },
    {
      "word": "chuck a sickie"
    },
    {
      "word": "pull a sickie"
    },
    {
      "word": "throw a sickie"
    },
    {
      "word": "sham Abram"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sham Abraham"
}