em
noun
the letter M, m.
em
1 American
[em]
/ ɛm /
noun
-
ems
plural
-
the letter M, m.
-
Also called mut, mutton. Printing.
-
the square of any size of type used as the unit of measurement for matter printed in that type size.
-
(originally) the portion of a line of type occupied by the letter M in type of the same size.
-
adjective
'em
2
American
[uhm]
/ əm /
pronoun
Informal.
Em
3
American
Symbol, Physical Chemistry.
EM
4
American
abbreviation
-
electronic mail.
-
electron microscope; electron microscopy.
-
end matched.
-
Engineer of Mines.
-
enlisted man; enlisted men.
em-
5
American
em-
6
American
E.M.
7
American
abbreviation
-
Earl Marshal.
-
Engineer of Mines.
em
1
British
/ ɛm /
noun
-
Also called: mutton, mut. the square of a body of any size of type, used as a unit of measurement
-
Also called: pica em, pica. a unit of measurement used in printing, equal to one sixth of an inch
'em
2
British
/ əm /
pronoun
em-
3
British
prefix
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of em1
First recorded in 1860–65
Origin of 'em2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English hem, Old English heom, dative and accusative plural of he 1
Vocabulary lists containing em
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:
That makes sense; em dashes are easy to spot, and I’ve consciously used them less as the internet has flooded with them.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
AI writing seems off, and not just because of its reliance on “it’s not X, it’s Y” constructions or my beloved em dashes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
And he admits it, naturally, with an em dash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
The news drew praise from public figures, including Jennifer Lopez, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Bruno Mars, who wrote on X, “Go get em Bad Bunny!”
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2025
I pull out my antennae hats I shaped last night out a tinfoil, fasten em on our heads.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
One flashed “Hook ‘em Horns,” the university’s proud hand signal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
“I call ’em our hot girl walks,” Nill said, pushing Lana and Steve in their stroller around the Silver Lake Reservoir.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
“At the end, the guy who wins Angler of the Year had to catch ‘em with it and catch ‘em without it,” says Cory Johnston.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Parton told Soboroff she was singing about “All of ‘em.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
Mama was afraid he’d burn up the good crops, but Pop said he’d burn ’em before he’d let the grasshoppers eat ’em.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
On this trip, the prosecution said, Stana had been in touch with a contact called "Em" on WhatsApp about the reconnaissance.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
“Let God Sort Em Out” came 16 years after their last release, which had marked the end of the Virginia Beach-born group amid a “come to God” moment for Malice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
Much like “Let God Sort Em Out,” the Clipse’s performance further solidified why they’ve been in the game for more than 20 years and why they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
Clipse, the duo of Pusha T and his brother Malice, reunited to release “Let God Sort Em Out,” their first album in more than 15 years, and nabbed five nominations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Richard pulls open the double doors to the bar, throws his hands into the air with a flourish, and ushers Lil and Em, giggling and whispering, inside.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
Despite the sharp rally in EM stocks over the past year and a half, valuations have actually come down, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
The almost parabolic moves in parts of EM equities have been driven by earnings, as strong demand has collided with shortages and supply has struggled to catch up, he said in an interview.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
Those who advocate for leniency on EM debt often fall into the trap of permitting caveats and special treatments that ultimately worsen the situation for developing countries.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
“Ultimately, we think the long-term outlook for gold will depend on the level of reserves EM central banks end up with, and the share of gold they target,” he said in written commentary.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
The Tuat was not a place of happiness, judging from the description of it in the PER-T EM HRU, or Book of the Dead.
From The Book of the Dead by Sir E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis) Budge
Font Bureau even did some customization for us—they provided us with wider em- and en-dashes for our home page headline font, for example, since our headlines are full of em-dashes.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2013
In the future, more and more of them may em- ulate the experiments of Tanzania and Kenya.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dr. Allen Sinclair Will, 65, founder & director of Rutgers' Department of Journalism, onetime city editor of the Baltimore Sun; of cerebral em- bolism complicated by pneumonia; in Manhattan.
From Time Magazine Archive
The forms en- and em- are of French origin.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
This prefix thus appears as am-, an-, em-, en-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, as ambush, anoint, embrace, enclose, illude, immure, include, irritate.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
Arthur is in part a crafty composite of the writer E.M.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025
Happy endings in queer cinema can be credited to "Maurice," the 1987 romance drama based on E.M.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2023
So begins the airy, delectable Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala adaptation of E.M.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
“It’s like the E.M. Forster phrase, ‘only connect,’” Weilerstein explained.
From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
The excitatory state evoked by stimulus manifests itself in nerve fibres by E.M. changes, and as far as our present knowledge goes by these only.
From Response in the Living and Non-Living by Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose
Linotype swifts, as praised in the Linotype Bulletin in 1921, could easily hit sustained rates above 10,000 ems an hour.
From Economist ● Mar. 30, 2018
Newsham said prompt treatment by fire and ems personnel at the scene helped to improve the boy’s prospects.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 10, 2017
They will be able to share their experiences with other ems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2016
Hanson doesn’t think that ems must necessarily live unhappy lives.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 9, 2016
I think she's going to be good for 8,000 ems an hour in the hands of a good ordinary man after a solid year's practice.
From Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) by Albert Bigelow Paine
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.
