Sham /(shăm)/

Sham

n.
  1. That which deceives expectation; any trick, fraud, or device that deludes and disappoints; a make-believe; delusion; imposture; humbug.
    Believe who will the solemn sham, not I.
  2. A false front, or removable ornamental covering.

Phrases & Compounds
Pillow sham
a covering to be laid on a pillow.

Sham

a.
  1. False; counterfeit; pretended; feigned; unreal; as, a sham fight.
    They scorned the sham independence proffered to them by the Athenians.
    — Jowett (Thucyd)

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.
  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.
  3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.

Phrases & Compounds
To sham Abram
to feign sickness; to malinger. Hence a malingerer is called, in sailors' cant, Sham Abram, or Sham Abraham.

Sham

v. i.
  1. To make false pretenses; to deceive; to feign; to impose.
    Wondering . . . whether those who lectured him were such fools as they professed to be, or were only shamming.