hem

/hɛm/

/hɛm/

Other forms: hemmed; hemming; hems

When kids grow taller, their parents sometimes have to let out the hem in their pants so they'll be long enough. The hem is the very bottom, folded edge of a piece of clothing.

Most of your clothes have at least one hem in them — at the ends of your sleeves, the bottom of your skirt, or along the edge of your t-shirt. When a person sews a hem, whether he's making a dress or a pair of curtains, he folds a very small amount of fabric under two or three times and stitches along the edge in a straight line. In Old English, the word hem means "a border."

Definitions of hem

1. noun

   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”

   type of:

   edge

   the outside limit of an object or area or surface; a place farthest away from the center of something
2. verb

   fold over and sew together to provide with a hem
   “hem my skirt”

   type of:

   run up, sew, sew together, stitch

   fasten by sewing; do needlework
3. noun

   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.
   synonyms: ahem

   type of:

   utterance, vocalization

   the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication
4. verb

   utter `hem' or `ahem'
   type of:

   emit, let loose, let out, utter

   express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words)