seam
Americannoun
-
seams
plural
-
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.
verb (used with object)
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seams,
present (3rd person singular)
-
seamed,
past participle, past
-
seaming
present participle
-
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.
verb (used without object)
-
seams,
present (3rd person singular)
-
seamed,
past participle, past
-
seaming
present participle
-
to become cracked, fissured, or furrowed.
-
Knitting. to make a line of stitches by purling.
noun
-
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
-
(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 ground
a seam bowler
-
full to overflowing
-
dialect doing well, esp financially
verb
-
(tr) to join or sew together by or as if by a seam
-
to make ridges in (knitting) using purl stitch
-
to mark or become marked with or as if with a seam or wrinkle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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seamsimple
-
seamssimple
-
have seamedperfect
-
has seamedperfect
-
am seamingprogressive
-
are seamingprogressive
-
is seamingprogressive
-
have been seamingperfect progressive
-
has been seamingperfect progressive
Past
-
seamedsimple
-
had seamedperfect
-
was seamingprogressive
-
were seamingprogressive
-
had been seamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of seam
before 1000; Middle English seme (noun), Old English sēam; cognate with German Saum hem; akin to sew 1, Greek hymḗn membrane ( see hymen)
Explanation
When you sew two pieces of fabric together, the line you are sewing is the seam. Coal appears in long, linear underground deposits referred to as seams. A garment that is coming to pieces will often first tear at the seams, the weakest parts. People use this image to describe anything that has reached a point where it is simply not holding together––your car could be falling apart at the seams, or if there's been a lot of stress in your life, you could be too — and you might have to move into a seamy neighborhood.
Vocabulary lists containing seam
October Sky
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Sewing Away
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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:
Their four-pronged seam attack hitting their straps after Joe Root had won the toss in Autumnal conditions.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
In a run that began in August 2022 and ended with the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne in December, Root was lbw to seam bowlers in Test cricket on only three occasions.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
With the ball darting around in the air and off the seam, the last thing Emilio Gay needed was uneven bounce.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
An entertaining left-handed batter and bowler of seam and spin, Sobers played 93 Tests between 1954 and 1974, scoring 8,032 runs and taking 235 wickets.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
But they were far behind, left in the seam between Peace and Progress, which seemed, even in that moment, to be growing farther away.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
She told the BBC's Walescast that her former party was "completely chaotic" and was "falling apart at the seams".
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
But just then, a piercing pink light appears outside, and a low, opaque mist begins to creep through the seams of your tent.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Writers have always had to break the spell of composition to inspect their creation’s seams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
He considered different shapes for the container -- like a square or even a star -- but thought it best to avoid having seams and joints, so a stainless steel cylinder won the day.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
She’d never met anything like it before, never seen a painting burst at its seams in that way, but they had.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
"I definitely felt like it was tricky early on. It seamed around with the new ball and they put it in the right spots," Tribe said.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
Charlotte is always tightly seamed and belted, while Lisa, a filmmaker, wears bright colors and straddles the line between adventurous pop art flair and polished affluence.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2025
Period costumes, by Jane Greenwood, announce their authenticity, right down to the seamed stockings.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2019
It’s made of thin cotton/modal French terry, which is flat on one side and looped on the other—the robe has seamed, decorative panels that reveal both sides of the fabric.
From Slate ● Nov. 16, 2018
He had a strange, seamed, bald head, a lined face.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
But he only lasted seven balls, edging a seaming delivery into the safe hands of Marnus Labuschagne at third slip.
From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025
In England, seaming conditions will test adaptability, technique and mental grit - especially for the batters.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2025
A seminal and comprehensive history; Times critic Bharati Mukherjee called Takaki’s method “extraordinary, seaming together meticulous scholarship, impassioned analysis, popular culture and personal memoir.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2021
The contoured silhouettes with intricate seaming, embroidery and couture detailing looked deceptively more expensive than their retail price.
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2020
It seemed like a deep fissure or crevasse seaming the ground, but what on earth it was like above I had no idea.
From A Frontier Mystery by Bertram Mitford
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.
