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 seamed
Contemporary Examples
The post-dinner conversations of staffers and policy-makers was seamed with shame, and even defeatism.
He was a biggish lad, with a boyish, slightly mischievous grin, and thoughtfulness and consideration were seamed in his character.
Every female extra wore the right girdle and seamed stockings; every man had the correct length tie.
Historical Examples
His face, small, sharp-featured and weazened, was seamed with a thousand wrinkles.
The Inn at the Red OakLatta Griswold
The land was seamed and scarred, the colors of the foliage somber.
One yard and three nails, doubled and seamed up, is the proper size.
The Ladies' Work-Table BookAnonymous
All these must be neatly hemmed and run, or seamed, if necessary.
The Ladies' Work-Table BookAnonymous
And he kissed her cheek, bathed as it was and seamed with, hot tears.
Gerald FitzgeraldCharles James Lever
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 seamed
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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seam
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 seamed
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.