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:
The turnover ➡️ The easy deuce for Khamenia @DukeMBB makes em pay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
Most of all we should use em dashes because they are a declaration of humanity in the face of AI’s onslaught.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
Last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X the following brag: “Small-but-happy win: If you tell ChatGPT not to use em dashes in your custom instructions, it finally does what it’s supposed to do!”
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
The Potomac boys are mitey hifalutin, some of em, and they and the Tennessee boys and us pure hated each other worse than we hated the rebs.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
Pokémon fans have spent the past three decades trying to catch 'em all - and since the beginning this hunt has often taken place outside the home.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
As a witness to the New York Mets’ abysmal inaugural season, Casey Stengel once remarked: “Been in this game one hundred years, but I see new ways to lose ’em I never knew existed before.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
"I think let 'em play," Trump said in late April.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
“Pick ‘em out of line starting today, and maybe the lines will get shorter,” he said.
From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2026
“These guys are my favorites, out of everything I’ve got here. That’s why I keep ’em hidden.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Spinner Linsey Smith, all-rounder Em Arlott and batter Paige Scholfield were among the other players to attract fees of more than £100,000.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
"Everything on telly was BBC," she said, adding that she grew up watching the sitcom Some Mothers Do Ave Em and Doctor Who, which ignited a love of science fiction.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 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
Further down the ballot, “GNX,” “Chromakopia” and “Let God Sort Em Out” will compete with GloRilla’s “Glorious” and JID’s “God Does Like Ugly” for the rap album award.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2025
She glanced at Em, who was texting again.
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
Strong performance in the EM space has increasingly been driven by a handful of stocks trading in Taiwan and South Korea, which play host to some of the world’s most influential AI hardware companies.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
In pre-market trading Thursday TSMC’s U.S.-listed depositary receipts were 1.87% higher at $440 and the EM ETF was indicating a gain of 2.52% at 70.29.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
In pre-market trading Thursday TSMC’s U.S.-listed depositary receipts were 1.87% higher at $440 and the EM ETF was indicating a gain of 2.52% at 70.29.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
While the AI trade is usually viewed as confined to the U.S., it’s played a big part in EM as well, particularly in Asia.
From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026
Never mind, EM," she lisped, "everything is bound to come out right.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, November 8, 1890 by Various
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
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
In the future, more and more of them may em- ulate the experiments of Tanzania and Kenya.
From Time Magazine Archive
The forms en- and em- are of French origin.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
Erring human mind-forces can work only evil under whatever name or pretence they are em- 186:9 ployed; for Spirit and matter, good and evil, light and darkness, cannot mingle.
From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Eddy, Mary Baker
She also starred with Olivier and Harry Hamlin in Cross’ adaptation of the Greek epic “Clash of the Titans” and a slew of film comedies before landing in the 1985 Merchant Ivory production of E.M.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
Soucy focuses on the highs of Merchant and Ivory’s films, which began in the 1960s with films like “The Householder” and “Shakespeare-Wallah,” and developed over the next two decades before their 1985 adaptation of E.M.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2024
So begins the airy, delectable Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala adaptation of E.M.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
“Marabar,” Zimmerman’s original work, was named after a fictional cave referenced in E.M.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2023
The E.M. variations resulting from stimulus range, as has been said, from ·4 volt to ·01 of that value, according to the metal employed.
From Response in the Living and Non-Living by Bose, Jagadis Chandra, Sir
With more experience, the rate could easily hit several thousand ems an hour, no matter the size of the type.
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
That is if any of us are lucky or unlucky enough to become 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
He courted pretty Emma Grey, One of earth's living gems— The sweetest Em, he used to say, Among a thousand "ems."
From Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884. A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside by Various
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.
