hem

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • v hem utter `hem' or `ahem'
    • v hem fold over and sew together to provide with a hem "hem my skirt"
    • n hem the edge of a piece of cloth; especially the finished edge that has been doubled under and stitched down "the hem of her dress was stained","let down the hem","he stitched weights into the curtain's hem","it seeped along the hem of his jacket"
    • n hem the utterance of a sound similar to clearing the throat; intended to get attention, express hesitancy, fill a pause, hide embarrassment, warn a friend, etc.
    • ***
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • Hem A border made on sheet-metal ware by doubling over the edge of the sheet, to stiffen it and remove the sharp edge.
    • interj Hem An onomatopoetic word used as an expression of hesitation, doubt, etc. It is often a sort of voluntary half cough, loud or subdued, and would perhaps be better expressed by hm. "Cough or cry hem , if anybody come."
    • n Hem An utterance or sound of the voice, hem or hm, often indicative of hesitation or doubt, sometimes used to call attention. "His morning hems ."
    • Hem Border; edge; margin. "Hem of the sea."
    • Hem The edge or border of a garment or cloth, doubled over and sewed, to strengthen it and prevent raveling.
    • pron Hem hĕm Them
    • Hem To border; to edge "All the skirt about
      Was hemmed with golden fringe."
    • Hem To form a hem or border to; to fold and sew down the edge of.
    • v. i Hem To make the sound expressed by the word hem; hence, to hesitate in speaking. "Hem , and stroke thy beard."
    • ***
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • n hem A narrow fold in the edge of a piece of textile material, made to prevent it from raveling. The stuff is turned over twice so as to cover the raw edge, and the inner fold or crease is sewed firmly down.
    • n hem Edge; border; margin.
    • n hem In architecture, the projecting spiral of the Ionic capital.
    • hem To form a hem or border to; fold and sew down the edge of: as, to hem an apron.
    • hem To border; edge.
    • hem To inclose; circumscribe; limit or confine by an environment of any kind: with in, about, or around.
    • hem An interjectional utterance, a sort of voluntary half-cough, intended to attract the attention of a particular person, to cover embarrassment by feigned indifference or hesitation, etc. Also ahem.
    • hem To make the sound expressed by the word hem; hence, to hesitate or stammer in speaking: as, to hem and haw.
    • hem To remove or otherwise affect by coughing.
    • hem See he, I., D .
    • hem See hemato-.
    • ***
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • n Hem hem the border of a garment doubled down and sewed
    • v.t Hem to form a hem on: to edge:—pr.p. hem′ming; pa.p. hemmed
    • v.t Hem to embroider with such
    • n., interj Hem hem a sort of half-cough to draw attention
    • v.i Hem to utter the sound hem!—pr.p. hem′ming; pa.p. hemmed
    • Hem hem (Spens.) them.
    • ***

Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
AS. hem, border, margin; cf. Fries. hämel, Prov. G. hammel, hem of mire or dirt

Usage

In literature:

Miss Letitia smoothed the folds in the skirt and put a pin in one place in the hem where she believed it hung a little bit long.
"The Heart of Arethusa" by Francis Barton Fox
Down stairs her father read the paper and her mother sat near the big table, hem-stitching.
"Jewel Weed" by Alice Ames Winter
I shall expect the seams to be neatly run, and the edges turned over and hemmed.
"The New Girl at St. Chad's" by Angela Brazil
One can not avoid a feeling of being constantly hampered and hemmed in.
"The Wit and Humor of America, Volume VIII (of X)" by Various
He was holding his own, and during the day his left (3rd Division) made good progress, reaching Pont du Hem close to Laventie.
"1914" by John French, Viscount of Ypres
Cross-examined by Mr. Howe: Hemmings has frequently pawned articles of jewelry with me; he pledged them in the name of Mrs. Bethune.
"Danger! A True History of a Great City's Wiles and Temptations" by William Howe
Hemming's party landed at the back of the island.
"The Three Midshipmen" by W.H.G. Kingston
Ticketing means putting just the right amount of smelly paste on the back of a label, slapping it swiftly just above the center of the hem.
"Working With the Working Woman" by Cornelia Stratton Parker
Then the coughing and hemming ceased; there was a sort of deep inspiration; the church seemed to hold its breath for a moment.
"The Manxman A Novel - 1895" by Hall Caine
They've got us hemmed in ag'inst it.
"The Keepers of the Trail" by Joseph A. Altsheler
***

In poetry:

Ther thei beryed hem both
In nouther mosse nor lynge,
And Litulle Johne and Muche infere
Bare the letturs to oure kyng.
"Robin Hood And The Monk" by Andrew Lang
"I made hem zemen of the crowne,
And gaf hem fee with my hond,
I gaf hem grithe," seid oure kyng,
"Thorowout alle mery Inglond.
"Robin Hood And The Monk" by Andrew Lang
"Y ley forty shillings," seyde Lytyll John,
"To pay het thes same day,
Ther ys nat a man arnong hus all
A wed schall make hem ley."
"Robin Hood And The Potter" by Andrew Lang
If a dead leaf startle behind me,
I think 'tis your garment's hem,
And, oh, where no memory could find me,
Might I whirl away with them!
"The Broken Tryst" by James Russell Lowell
"I ponder o'er the sacred word,
I read the record of our Lord;
And, weak and troubled, envy them
Who touched His seamless garment's hem;
"The Chapel of the Hermits" by John Greenleaf Whittier
Near him she stole, rank after rank;
She feared approach too loud;
She touched his garment's hem, and shrank
Back in the sheltering crowd.
"The Woman Who Came Behind Him In The Crowd" by George MacDonald

In news:

Look down at your pant hems.
wbez.org
Fast Lane Classic Cars Hemmings Seller Since 1993.
hemmings.com
This includes sourcing fabrics, cutting up sequins and ensuring that every cuff, hem, heel and neckline is the appropriate length and height.
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Very interesting to learn about Quinoa from author Carolyn Hemming with Dave Kallaway & Stacy Cole on 95-5 WIFC.
wifc.com
Ideal Classic Cars Hemmings Seller Since 2011.
hemmings.com
Arkansas Razorbacks cornerback Tevin Mitchel (8) and Arkansas Razorbacks safety Rohan Gaines (26) try to hem in LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr (3) after a reception in the first half.
theadvocate.com
Before the retrofits , only one press brake had the tooling necessary to perform hemming.
thefabricator.com
So the operators had to move their parts to that one machine to make hems.
thefabricator.com
Stitched hem on the entire border adds life.
pten.com
Use no-sew crafting supplies, such as iron-on hem tape or fabric glue.
midwestliving.com
Masterpiece Classic Cars Hemmings Seller Since 2011.
hemmings.com
It is a beautiful turquoise lake hemmed in by snow-clad mountains.
toledoblade.com
The rope hem is used for attachment to other sheet metal parts.
thefabricator.com
(No, this does not refer to hemming your slacks.
condonewsonline.com
Podium Auto Sales Hemmings Seller Since 2009.
hemmings.com
***

In science:

The group hLαn−1 , Lαn i ∼= Ω− (6, q) has an element z ′ with support hem , fmi and acting as −1 on this 2-space.
Presentations of finite simple groups: a quantitative approach
Furthermore we assume all the eigenstates |Em i to have been orthonormalised, hEm |Em′ i = δmm′ .
A Pedestrian Introduction to the Mathematical Concepts of Quantum Physics
Currently, over 400 extra-Solar planetary systems have been found; most of hem around main sequence stars, with a few tens found in wide binary systems.
Second generation planets
Hex describes the excitonic system, ˆHres represents a reservoir for the nonradiative damping of excitons, ˆHint is the exciton-photon interaction, and ˆHem describes the electromagnetic fields and a background dielectric medium as discussed in Ref. 64 and also used in Ref. 44.
Theoretical framework of entangled-photon generation from biexcitons in nano-to-bulk crossover regime with planar geometry
Hem , and can be derived by the standard transfer matrix method67 in the case of dielectric multilayers.
Theoretical framework of entangled-photon generation from biexcitons in nano-to-bulk crossover regime with planar geometry
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