hem
pronunciation
How to pronounce hem in British English:
UK [hem]
How to pronounce hem in American English:
US [hɛm]
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- Noun:
- lap that forms a cloth border doubled back and stitched down
-
- Verb:
- fold over and sew together to provide with a hem
- utter `hem' or `ahem'
Word Origin
- hem
- hem: [OE] If, as seems likely, hem is related to Old Frisian hemme ‘enclosed piece of land’, its underlying meaning would be ‘edge, border’. However, a link has also been suggested with Armenian kamel ‘press’.
- hem (n.)
- Old English hem "a border," especially of cloth or a garment, from Proto-Germanic *hamjam (cognates: Old Norse hemja "to bridle, curb," Swedish hämma "to stop, restrain," Old Frisian hemma "to hinder," Middle Dutch, German hemmen "to hem in, stop, hinder"), from PIE *kem- "to compress." Apparently the same root yielded Old English hamm, common in place names (where it means "enclosure, land hemmed in by water or high ground, land in a river bend"). In Middle English, hem also was a symbol of pride or ostentation. If þei wer þe first þat schuld puplysch þese grete myracles of her mayster, men myth sey of hem, as Crist ded of þe Pharisees, þat þei magnified her owne hemmys. [John Capgrave, "Life of Saint Gilbert of Sempringham," 1451]
- hem (interj.)
- late 15c., probably imitative of the sound of clearing the throat. Hem and haw first recorded 1786, from haw "hesitation" (1630s; see haw (v.)); hem and hawk attested from 1570s.
- hem (v.)
- late 14c., "to provide (something) with a border or fringe" (surname Hemmer attested from c. 1300), from hem (n.). Related: Hemmed; hemming. The phrase hem in "shut in, confine," first recorded 1530s.
Example
- 1. Two girls glued pink feathers all along the hem .
- 2. The tailor ripped the hem and shortened the dress .
- 3. She knows you hem your own pants , right ?
- 4. He thought about the possibility that hem would read the handwriting on the wall and find his way .
- 5. Anything as simple as rolling up a trouser hem counts as styling .