clem

[ klem ]
/ klɛm /

verb (used with or without object), clemmed, clem·ming. British Dialect.

to starve.

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"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?
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decorum
the act of or need for making up one's mind.
dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.
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Origin of clem

1530–40; akin to Middle English forclemmed (past participle) pinched with hunger, Old English beclemman to fetter

Words nearby clem

cleistocarpous, cleistogamous, cleistogamy, cleistothecium, cleland, clem, clemastine fumarate, clematis, clemenceau, clemenceau, georges, clemency

Definition for clem (2 of 2)

Clem
[ klem ]
/ klɛm /

noun

a male given name, form of Clement.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for clem

British Dictionary definitions for clem

clem

clam

/ (klɛm) /

verb clems, clemming, clemmed, clams, clamming or clammed

(when tr, usually passive) English dialect to be hungry or cause to be hungry

Word Origin for clem

C16: of Germanic origin; related to Dutch, German klemmen to pinch, cramp; compare Old English beclemman to shut in
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