"We have to get back," explained Denis lamely.
He was often late home, lamely claiming he had been caught in a meeting.
"Did you tell him to leave me alone?" - "I didn't get a chance," he said, rather lamely.
Desolation goes before us, and civilization lags slowly and lamely behind.
The verb first crops up in the 16th century (until then the word for 'walk lamely' had been hall, which now survives, barely, as an adjective).
This organisation has the advantage of being a highly respected national institution, known to be completely impartial and lamely staffed by voluntary helpers.
My expectation is that people who hold up their hands so lamely are unlikely to be re-elected.
He simply said rather lamely that it was right in principle that attention should be paid to certain needs.
