hem
An utterance or sound of the voice like "hem", often indicative of hesitation or…An utterance or sound of the voice like "hem", often indicative of hesitation or doubt, sometimes used to call attention.
Recorded US: Neskaya, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Meaning
4 sensesAn utterance or sound of the voice like "hem", often indicative of hesitation or doubt, sometimes used to call attention.
The border of an article of clothing doubled back and stitched together to finish the edge and prevent it from fraying.
Saum
ободо́кobodók, кайма́kajmá, крайkraj
the edge of a piece of cloth; especially the finished edge that has been doubled under and stitched down
A rim or margin of something.
Rand
крайkraj
In sheet metal design, a rim or edge folded back on itself to create a smooth edge and to increase strength or rigidity.
Examples
28 sentencesTranslations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 2
Origin
A sound uttered in imitation of clearing the throat (onomatopoeia) From Middle English heA sound uttered in imitation of clearing the throat (onomatopoeia)
From Middle English hem, hemm, in turn from Old English hem, of West Germanic origin, from Proto-West Germanic *hammjan from Proto-Germanic *hamjaną. Related to Middle High German hemmen (“to hem in”), Old Norse hemja (“to hem in, restrain”); outside of Germanic, to Armenian քամել (kʻamel, “to press, wring”), Russian ком (kom, “lump”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: hemsSynonyms
1 synonyms- 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.:ahem
Word family
5 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.