verb (used with object), hemmed, hem·ming. to fold back and sew down the edge of (cloth, a garment, etc.); form an edge or border on or around.
to enclose or confine (usually followed by in, around, or about ): hemmed in by enemies.
noun an edge made by folding back the margin of cloth and sewing it down.
the edge or border of a garment, drape, etc., especially at the bottom.
the edge, border, or margin of anything.
Architecture the raised edge forming the volute of an Ionic capital.
Origin of hem 1 before 1000; Middle English hem(m ),
Old English hem, probably akin to
hamm enclosure; see
home interjection (an utterance resembling a slight clearing of the throat, used to attract attention, express doubt, etc.)
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noun the utterance or sound of “hem.”
a sound or pause of hesitation: His sermon was full of hems and haws.
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verb (used without object), hemmed, hem·ming. to utter the sound “hem.”
to hesitate in speaking.
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Idioms hem and haw , to hesitate or falter: She hemmed and hawed a lot before she came to the point. to speak noncommittally; avoid giving a direct answer: He hems and haws and comes out on both sides of every question. Show More
Origin of hem 2 First recorded in 1520–30; imitative
variant of hemo- before a vowel: hemal. Show More
Also
especially British ,
haem- .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for hem skirt ,
perimeter ,
brim ,
margin ,
fringe ,
rim ,
piping ,
periphery ,
verge ,
trimming ,
edging ,
brink ,
define ,
selvage ,
skirting Examples from the Web for hem Contemporary Examples of hem Such products are not suited for the rigours of public life, and need to be adapted, at the very least by sewing in hem weights.
If I could sum it up in a few choice words, I would, but instead I hem and haw, before stumbling through some rambling rejoinder.
Music, too, can dismantle me—for instance, this morning: Sam Cooke singing “Touch the Hem of His Garment.”
Tessie rose, unrolled her scented handkerchief, and taking a bit of gum from a knot in the hem , placed it in her mouth.
Kate, sweetie, you really need to get some hem weights fitted to your clothes.
Historical Examples of hem And it is, I cannot but confess it, it is too often—hem —acceptable.
"Good as new, almost," she said, looking critically at the hem .
What, all the way to the well and back, nothing but hem , and clear his throat?
Ten golden pieces are sewn into the hem of your under doublet.
Then he fell before her and, for a second time, kissed the hem of her robe.
British Dictionary definitions for hem noun an edge to a piece of cloth, made by folding the raw edge under and stitching it down
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verb hems , hemming or hemmed (tr) to provide with a hem
(usually foll by in, around, or about ) to enclose or confine
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Word Origin for hem Old English hemm; related to Old Frisian hemme enclosed land
noun , interjection a representation of the sound of clearing the throat, used to gain attention, express hesitation, etc
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verb hems , hemming or hemmed (intr) to utter this sound
hem and haw or hum and haw to hesitate in speaking or in making a decision
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for hem n. Old English hem "a border," especially of cloth or a garment, from Proto-Germanic *hamjam (cf. Old Norse hemja "to bridle, curb," Swedish hämma "to stop, restrain," Old Frisian hemma "to hinder," Middle Dutch, German hemmen "to hem in, stop, hinder"), from PIE *kem- "to compress." Apparently the same root yielded Old English hamm , common in place names (where it means "enclosure, land hemmed in by water or high ground, land in a river bend"). In Middle English, hem also was a symbol of pride or ostentation.
If þei wer þe first þat schuld puplysch þese grete myracles of her mayster, men myth sey of hem, as Crist ded of þe Pharisees, þat þei magnified her owne hemmys. [John Capgrave, "Life of Saint Gilbert of Sempringham," 1451] Show More
interj. late 15c., probably imitative of the sound of clearing the throat. Hem and haw first recorded 1786, from haw "hesitation" (1630s; see haw (v.)); hem and hawk attested from 1570s.
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v. late 14c., "to provide (something) with a border or fringe" (surname Hemmer attested from c.1300), from hem (n.). Related: Hemmed ; hemming . The phrase hem in "shut in, confine," first recorded 1530s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
