Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

hem

[hem] / hɛm /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

In his hands a wafer-thin passage of clay becomes the fluttering hem of the Virgin’s mantle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

But standing still is no guarantee of safety either: One woman’s hem got caught in the teeth of an escalator.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026

She shows off large animal heads, including a rat and a bull, and an embroidered dress with a ruffled hem made for the production of the Handel opera "Alcina".

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

Already chic, an adjustable drawstring hem and belted detailing at the waist and wrists allows you to style the jacket your way.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2025

But then I touch the hem of my dress and know my poems are with me.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

As it enters Assam's vast floodplains, home to some 28 million people and hemmed in by hills, it slows and deposits sediment, fuelling erosion and floods.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

The many fronts, Warren explained, overextended the British army and navy and prevented reinforcements from reaching Gen. Charles Cornwallis, who was hemmed in at Yorktown and would soon surrender to combined American and French forces.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

This new version isn’t hemmed in by the traditional structures of a book musical, allowing it to play fast and loose with the theatrical context without having to throw out the story or the score.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

It was whether federal courts, hemmed in by the modern law of habeas corpus, are permitted to say anything meaningful about that possibility at all.

From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2026

Off across the night, beyond the stone that hemmed them close, the dogs woke and began to bark.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

She was so thrilled by my interest that she would have handed over anything that fit, and I stayed up late hemming the dress by hand.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

He has also mocked allies uneasy about the widening conflict, referring to those who "wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force."

From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026

"The hemming wasn't right, the length wasn't right. You either go on parade right or you don't go at all."

From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2026

“They’re rolling their eyes at the price, hemming and hawing about it, but if people drink cold brew, they’re getting their cold brew,” said Pedeaux.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025

Joe had finally gone to his brother Fred and asked him point-blank where their father was, and Fred, after some hemming and hawing, had told him.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown


Vocabulary lists containing hem

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Just like flashcards, but way more fun

Don't take our word for it. Leave the boring studying behind and join VocabTrainer today. You'll learn even faster and never look back.

Take me to Vocabulary.com