seam
[seem]
- the line formed by sewing together pieces of cloth, leather, or the like.
- the stitches used to make such a line.
- any line formed by abutting edges.
- any linear indentation or mark, as a wrinkle or scar.
- Knitting. a line of stitches formed by purling.
- Geology. a comparatively thin stratum; a bed, as of coal.
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- to join with or as if with stitches; make the seam or seams of.
- to furrow; mark with wrinkles, scars, etc.
- Knitting. to knit with or in a seam.
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- to become cracked, fissured, or furrowed.
- Knitting. to make a line of stitches by purling.
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Origin of seam
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for seam
Contemporary Examples
Fumbleroooohski…'” (39) “'Look at me, ungh, splitting my own seam, oohh… going deep.
Roll the pork over the stuffing, like a jelly roll, until the seam is facing down and the fat back is on top.
For a number of years, we lived in the Abu Tor neighborhood, right on the seam of East and West Jerusalem.
Historical Examples
You'll open a seam in your head and founder, first thing you know.
Thankful's InheritanceJoseph C. Lincoln
The seam is twenty-six feet thick, and the coal is of good quality.
The Last VoyageLady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
Then followed a long silence while the machine rattled down a seam.
The Hound From The NorthRidgwell Cullum
"There's a seam of cryolite in the Eastern Hills, according to the old maps," said Lake.
Space PrisonTom Godwin
Take your seam indoors to your chamber, and stir not from it till supper-time.
Chatterbox, 1905.Various
seam
- the line along which pieces of fabric are joined, esp by stitching
- a ridge or line made by joining two edges
- a stratum of coal, ore, etc
- a linear indentation, such as a wrinkle or scar
- surgery another name for suture (def. 1b)
- (modifier) cricket of or relating to a style of bowling in which the bowler utilizes the stitched seam round the ball in order to make it swing in flight and after touching the grounda seam bowler
- bursting at the seams full to overflowing
- in a good seam Northern English dialect doing well, esp financially
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- (tr) to join or sew together by or as if by a seam
- US to make ridges in (knitting) using purl stitch
- to mark or become marked with or as if with a seam or wrinkle
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Word Origin
Old English; related to Old Norse saumr, Old High German soum
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 seam
n.
Old English seam "seam, suture, junction," from Proto-Germanic *saumaz (cf. Old Frisian sam "hem, seam," Old Norse saumr, Middle Dutch som, Dutch zoom, Old High German soum, German Saum "hem"), from PIE root *syu- "to sew, to bind" (cf. Old English siwian, Latin suere, Sanskrit syuman; see sew).
Chidynge and reproche ... vnsowen the semes of freendshipe in mannes herte. [Chaucer, "Parson's Tale," c.1386]
Meaning "raised band of stitching on a ball" is recorded from 1888. Geological use is from 1590s.
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v.
1580s, from seam (n.). Related: Seamed; seaming.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
seam
[sēm]
- A thin layer or stratum, as of coal or rock.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with seam
seam
see burst at the seams; come apart at the seams.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.