English Explanatory Dictionary

gem

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A precious stone, usually of substantial monetary value or prized for its beauty or shine.
  2. Any precious or highly valued thing or person.
  3. Anything of small size, or expressed within brief limits, which is regarded as a gem on account of its beauty or value, such as a small picture, a verse of poetry, or an epigram.
  4. A gemma or leaf bud.
  5. A geometrid moth of the species Orthonama obstipata.
  6. A package containing programs or libraries for the Ruby programming language.
  7. A size of type between brilliant (4-point) and diamond (4½-point), running 222 lines to the foot.
  8. A strong, dominating pitching performance.
  9. Internet content of good quality.
verb
  1. To adorn with, or as if with, gems.
noun
  1. A native or resident of the American state of Idaho.
name
  1. A ghost town in California.
  2. An unincorporated community in Indiana.
  3. A city in Kansas.
name
  1. A diminutive of the female given name Gemma.
noun
  1. Initialism of ground-effect machine.
  2. Acronym of Graphite-Epoxy Motor.

Pronunciation

/d͡ʒɛm/ /d͡ʒɪm/ en-us-gem.ogg

Word forms

gem gems gemming gemmed

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English gemme, gimme, yimme, ȝimme, from Old English ġimm, from Proto-West Germanic *gimmu (“gem”) and Old French gemme (“gem”), both from Latin gemma (“a swelling bud; jewel, gem”). Doublet of gemma and Gemma.

Synonyms

jewel precious stone gemstone begem

Antonyms

coal brimstone

Derived words

begem cardinal gem gem clip Gem County gemcutter gem-cutter gem cutter gem-diol gem-diolate gem-disubstituent effect gemerald gem-faced civet gemfish gem-hydrogenation gemless gemlike gemmer gemmery gemmy gemology gemsetter gemsetting gemsmith gemsona gem squash Gem State gemstone gem tree gemwork gemwright hidden gem iced gem mountaingem Zanzibar gem
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