Meaning & use
hem
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Meanings
nouncountable
The bottom edge of a piece of clothing or cloth, folded over and stitched down.
Grammar: Often used with of: the hem of a skirt.
Patterns
- the hem of something
- take up the hem
She sewed the hem of the curtain by hand.
The hem of his trousers was dusty.
Dad took up the hem of my new dress.
verbtransitive
To fold the edge of cloth and sew it down so it does not unravel.
Grammar: Takes an object: hem a skirt.
Patterns
- hem something
- have something hemmed
Can you hem these curtains for me?
He hemmed the trousers an inch shorter.
She hemmed the napkins on the old machine.
verbphrasal verbfigurative
To surround something closely so that it cannot move or spread freely.
Grammar: Usually hem in, often in the passive: hemmed in by buildings.
Patterns
- hem someone in
- be hemmed in by something
Tall buildings hemmed in the little garden.
The troops were hemmed in by the river.
She felt hemmed in by the rules.
verbintransitiveinformal
To make a short sound in the throat, or to hesitate while speaking, usually in the phrase hem and haw.
Grammar: Mostly seen in hem and haw, meaning to delay giving an answer.
Patterns
- hem and haw
He hemmed and hawed before admitting he was late.
Stop hemming and hawing and decide.
She hemmed nervously before starting her speech.
Word forms
| plural | hems |
|---|---|
| third person singular | hems |
| past tense | hemmed |
| past participle | hemmed |
| -ing form | hemming |
Common combinations
- take up a hem
- She took up the hem to make the dress shorter.
- let down a hem
- They let down the hem as she grew taller.
- hem in
- Hills hem in the valley on three sides.
- hem and haw
- He hemmed and hawed over the offer.
- a frayed hem
- The coat had a frayed hem.
- hemmed in
- We felt hemmed in by the crowd.
Synonyms and how they differ
- border
- Border is a general word for an edge or decorative strip, while hem is a sewn folded edge.
- edge
- Edge is any boundary, whereas hem is specifically the finished edge of cloth.
- trap
- As a figurative verb, trap suggests no escape at all, while hem in suggests restriction.
- confine
- Confine is formal and more final than hem in.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: hem or him?
hem vs him
Him is a pronoun for a man, while hem is the sewn edge of cloth. They sound a little alike in fast speech.
Practice
The trousers were too long, so the tailor offered to ____ them.
Choose one answer.
To hem means to fold and stitch the bottom edge. Hum, hew and ham look or sound similar but do not describe shortening trousers.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hem”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.