clem
verb (used with or without object)
to starve.
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clem
1 American
[klem]
/ klɛm /
verb (used with or without object)
British Dialect.
clemmed,
clemming
Clem
2
American
[klem]
/ klɛm /
noun
clem
British
/ klɛm /
verb
Etymology
Origin of clem
1530–40; akin to Middle English forclemmed (past participle) pinched with hunger, Old English beclemman to fetter
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:
The family lived upon their savings as long as they lasted, and then were compelled to apply for relief, or "clem."
From Home-Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk during the Cotton Famine by Waugh, Edwin
In hard times didn't we share 'em and fair clem?
From Ovington's Bank by Weyman, Stanley J.
I clem up, rech up and got holt of that box and I was so heavy I pulled it down and broke all the old blue edge plates.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 3 by Work Projects Administration
In these places of Jonson, clem is usually rendered starve; but it appears to me, from the kindred of the term, that it is used elliptically.
From Notes and Queries, Number 191, June 25, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George
Union says strike, and you hev to strike whether you like it or whether you don’t like it, and clem till it’s over.”
From Patience Wins War in the Works by Fenn, George Manville
One Labour source joked, "there are rumours that they've brought an ouija board through the green baize door to consult Clem Atlee and Harold Wilson".
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
"All of our mission control rooms are all in this building," said Clem.
From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026
The responses include Sweetwater customers sending Clem photos of their home studios.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 24, 2026
Clem has been buying them in bulk on the internet, accepting donated whistles from friends, and making his with a 3D printer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2026
I would only have one chance at Clem because I only had one weapon: a rubber band.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
There beant nowheres such a good lad as our Reuben; and to be clemmed to death, and froze!
From Olive A Novel by Bowers, G.
Well, I 'lows, Doctor, them has been clemmed up on times.
From Labrador Days Tales of the Sea Toilers by Grenfell, Wilfred Thomason, Sir
"Better come and have a sup o' tea first; you look clemmed wi' the cold," he returned.
From The Youngest Girl in the Fifth A School Story by Davis, Stanley
From us—us that he has starved and clemmed this last two months!
From A Safety Match by Hay, Ian
He wor fairly clemmed wi' t' cold,—'at he wor.
From The History of David Grieve by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
It's made many of us keen for all our lives," he remarked, "all that clemming for education.
From The New Machiavelli by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
She was young, and had not yet learned to bear "clemming."
From Mary Barton by Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
Now clemming is a quiet death, and worrying isn't, so I choose clemming, and come into th' Union.
From Mary Barton by Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
Hamper's—that's where I worked—makes their men pledge 'emselves they'll not give a penny to help th' Union or keep turnouts fro' clemming.
From North and South by Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
Father were stunned wi' the blow at first, for all Boucher were weak wi' passion and wi' clemming.
From North and South by Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
