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Showing results for "them"
  • objective of he.
  • objective of it.
  • objective of she.
  • objective of they.
Synonyms

them

American  
[them, thuhm, uhm] / ðɛm, ðəm, əm /

pronoun

  1. the objective case of plural they, used as a direct or indirect object.

    We saw them yesterday. I gave them the books.

  2. Informal. (used instead of the pronoun they in the predicate after the verbto be ): No, that isn’t them.

    It's them, across the street.

    No, that isn’t them.

  3. Informal. (used instead of the pronoun their before a gerund).

    The boys' parents objected to them hiking without adult supervision.

  4. the objective case of singular they, used as a direct or indirect object.

    1. (used to refer to a generic or unspecified person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context): If an officer were to ask you that question directly, you would have to answer them honestly.

      If you know anyone looking for a job, tell them to contact me.

      If an officer were to ask you that question directly, you would have to answer them honestly.

    2. (used to refer to a specific or known person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context).

      I can’t believe your ex took your cat with them when they moved out.

    3. (used to refer to a nonbinary or gender-nonconforming person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context).

      Randi’s on vacation, so you can’t see them until next week.


adjective

  1. Nonstandard. those.

    He don't want them books.

them British  
/ ðəm, ðɛm /

pronoun

  1. (objective) refers to things or people other than the speaker or people addressed

    I'll kill them

    what happened to them?

  2. a dialect word for themselves

    they got them a new vice president

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

determiner

  1. a nonstandard word for those

    three of them oranges

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Grammar

See he 1, me, they.

Etymology

Origin of them

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English theim, theym, from Old Norse theim “them” (dative); replacing Middle English tham(e), Old English thǣm, thām; cf. they


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Their bodies, however, were not found for another week, when their families were able to identify them.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Caroline Lugo instead ordered them held in lieu of $20 million bail.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Today many cousins lack the close relationships that allow them to become business partners, which is what they become the moment they jointly inherit an asset.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

It was a set-up so convoluted that it's doubtful that even Ross, who has been permanently paranoid about being murdered in plain sight, rumbled them.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

By the middle of the nineteenth century, a popular parlor game is "reading" one's character by feeling the skull for bumps and dips and then matching them to a head chart such as this one.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

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