em
noun
the letter M, m.
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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:
Silas Malafaia, who has millions of followers on social media, leads the Assembleia de Deus Vitória em Cristo headquartered in the lower middle-class neighbourhood of Penha in Rio de Janeiro.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
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
The turnover ➡️ The easy deuce for Khamenia @DukeMBB makes em pay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
“The em dash is now a GPT-ism and is not advisable unless you want people to think your writing is the output of a LLM,” wrote a user named energy123 on Hacker News.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
She said, “Not one of em came this Christmas. I was looking for ’em all day, and my heart’s most broke about ’em not coming.”
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
We gotta get all of ’em out of here!”
From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2026
It’s true: They don’t make ’em like they used to.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
“We’re just going to keep ‘em all and see what happens,” Hortiz said, noting Branson Taylor will return from the injured reserve at some point too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Parton told Soboroff she was singing about “All of ‘em.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
As she once explained about her work, “we don’t make ’em, we break ’em.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
"Proud of her for owning up to it and for wanting to do better," agreed Em.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Travel blogger Em says there's value to be had in Montenegro.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
L.A. beans though, either Counter Culture or Go Get Em Tiger would be my beans of choice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 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
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
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
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
Morgan EM Local Currency Bond ETF for those willing to take on a bit of extra risk, and the Vanguard Total International Bond EFT for investment-grade bonds abroad.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
On coffins of the XIth dynasty and on papyri of the XVIIIth dynasty we find two versions of the PER-T EM HRU, one long and one short.
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
I cannot thank you too em- phatically for the devoted care with which you have watched over me during our long and eventful voyage.
From The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan by Sir W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert
Arthur is in part a crafty composite of the writer E.M.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025
When circumstance, and one’s own body, seem to conspire against you, one can, as E.M.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
Happy endings in queer cinema can be credited to "Maurice," the 1987 romance drama based on E.M.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2023
Throughout the ’80s Nachume was a frequent exhibitor at two Manhattan spaces: Exit Art and E.M.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
The observed variation of response may thus be partly owing to some unknown change of resistance, as well as to that of the E.M. variation in response to stimulus.
From Response in the Living and Non-Living by Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose
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
From now I pays the union schedoole, the same bein' five cents a thousand ems more than former.
From Wolfville Days by Alfred Henry Lewis
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
