English Explanatory Dictionary

seam

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A folded-back and stitched piece of fabric; especially, the stitching that joins two or more pieces of fabric.
  2. A suture.
  3. A thin stratum, especially of an economically viable material such as coal or mineral.
  4. The stitched equatorial seam of a cricket ball; the sideways movement of a ball when it bounces on the seam.
  5. A joint formed by mating two separate sections of materials.
  6. A line or depression left by a cut or wound; a scar; a cicatrix.
  7. A line of junction; a joint.
verb
  1. To put together with a seam.
  2. To make the appearance of a seam in, as in knitting a stocking; hence, to knit with a certain stitch, like that in such knitting.
  3. To mark with a seam or line; to scar.
  4. To crack open along a seam.
  5. Of the ball, to move sideways after bouncing on the seam.
  6. Of a bowler, to make the ball move thus.
noun
  1. An old English measure of grain, containing eight bushels.
  2. An old English measure of glass, containing twenty-four weys of five pounds, or 120 pounds.
noun
  1. Grease; tallow; lard.

Pronunciation

/ˈsiːm/ [ˈsɪi̯m] en-us-seem.ogg en-au-seam.ogg

Word forms

seam seams seme seaming seamed saim

Etymology

From Middle English seem, seme, from Old English sēam (“seam”), from Proto-West Germanic *saum, from Proto-Germanic *saumaz (“that which is sewn”).

Derived words

Bermuda seam coal seam devil seam double lock standing seam enseam felled seam field seam flat-felled seam flat-fell seam four-seam fastball French seam inseam interseam monk's seam outseam overseam princess seam quarter seam seam allowance seam carving seamfree seamhead seam lace seamless seamlet seamlike seamline seam presser seam set seamster seamstress seamy sideseam standing seam two-seam fastball reseam seamer unseam
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