gem
Americannoun
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a cut and polished precious stone or pearl fine enough for use in jewelry.
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something likened to or prized as such a stone because of its beauty or worth.
His painting was the gem of the collection.
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a person held in great esteem or affection.
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British Printing. a 4-point type of a size between brilliant and diamond.
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
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a precious or semiprecious stone used in jewellery as a decoration; jewel
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a person or thing held to be a perfect example; treasure
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a size of printer's type, approximately equal to 4 point
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a type of small sweet cake
verb
Other Word Forms
- gemless adjective
- gemlike adjective
- gemmy adjective
Etymology
Origin of gem
1275–1325; Middle English gemme < Old French < Latin gemma bud, jewel; replacing Middle English yimme, Old English gim ( m ) < Latin
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.
“A brother from another mother,” the hotel staffer told JOP, who flashed a grin glittering with tooth gems.
From Los Angeles Times
"Some players really enjoy digging through all the data and finding that gem, and obviously using AI does make that faster," she says.
From BBC
“The building could readily have been painted and preserved to serve in an adaptive re-use capacity as a gem in the community,” said the organization.
From Los Angeles Times
Sacred ancient gems linked to the Buddha were unveiled on Saturday in India for the first time since their colonial-era removal.
From Barron's
Once researchers could easily search through a century of paper, they could excavate gems that were buried in the corporate archives—like Moylan’s original memo.
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.
