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seam

[seem]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

the line formed by sewing together pieces of cloth, leather, or the like.

the stitches used to make such a line.

any line formed by abutting edges.

any linear indentation or mark, as a wrinkle or scar.

Knitting. a line of stitches formed by purling.

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Geology. a comparatively thin stratum; a bed, as of coal.

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verb (used with object)

to join with or as if with stitches; make the seam or seams of.

to furrow; mark with wrinkles, scars, etc.

Knitting. to knit with or in a seam.

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Seam is one of our favorite verbs.

So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used without object)

10.

to become cracked, fissured, or furrowed.

11.

Knitting. to make a line of stitches by purling.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English seme (noun), Old English sēam; cognate with German Saum hem; akin to sew¹, Greek hymḗn membrane (see hymen)

Related forms

seam·er, noun

un·der·seam, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To seam

Example Sentences

When dry, glue the surface material back together with seam sealer recommended for your flooring.

Beneath the helicopter's blades, the woods thicken and the terrain rises to a seam of limestone crag, dripping with trees.

Cut around the seam along the bottom and sides of the pocket, but leave the waistband of the jeans intact.

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When dry, glue the surface material back together with seam sealer recommended for your flooring.

Beneath the helicopter's blades, the woods thicken and the terrain rises to a seam of limestone crag, dripping with trees.

Cut around the seam along the bottom and sides of the pocket, but leave the waistband of the jeans intact.

The change, he said, could have come from miners digging deeper into a coal seam.

Run your saber or knife slowly back along the seam toward your body.

Install two nails on each side of the seam formed by the boards' ends.

It was this rich seam of thinking that seemed to be encoded in the drawings.

The activity shows the stress the seam is under and could be a harbinger of worse to come, scientists warn.

Then, quickly and firmly thrust it back up the seam toward the bottle's tip.

Apply caulking compound to the seam at the end of the clapboard.

The seam can be positioned so that the index finger is perpendicular to it.

These products include cement board siding, stone and brick, and stand and seam metal roofing.

Then, similar pixels on either side of the seam are fused.

Originally the suit's jacket was made without a waist seam to.

The generous seep pouring out of its bedrock seam lay tucked in a corner of side canyon under arching walls.

Two weak points may be where the strap is split, and the sewn seam.

Also, apply caulking compound to the seam where the ends of adjacent clapboards butt against each other.

We descend at the back of the crack, looking out at a vertical seam of blue sky.

The seam in the middle is the result of new stars forming and emitting powerful gas jets that are ripping the pillar apart.

Drive the blade about an inch deeper, then wiggle the knife back and forth to widen the seam and break loose any paint inside.

He nudges the slices together so they touch and dribbles greenish liquid along the seam.

Automotive companies use robots equipped with high-powered lasers to seam cars together with extreme speed and precision.

Graff keeps a seam ripper in his dopp kit to remove such aesthetic and potentially allergenic offenses.

Yet a mining company wants to mine their sacred mountain's rich seam of bauxite.

Unlike others bags we've reviewed, there was nary a loose thread or stray seam to be found.

To the girl's horror, the shoe-wolf leaps over the seam and into the attic, ready to eat her.

Cut a piece into a rectangle, wedge it into the seam, and then side it along the seam.

Fit is slim, but with more ease on thigh and hip, with a straight side seam.

Place the loaves, seam side down, in the prepared pans.

To clamp the seam after applying glue, wipe away excess glue, then wrap the glued area with adhesive tape.

In mountaintop-removal mining, the soil and rock above a coal seam are dumped into hollows and streambeds.

But the pipe dug out of the ground shows a seam with possible welding problems.

Slide the tool along the length of the siding to open the seam.

Lightly brush the top with oil, then turn the loaf so that the seam side is down.

Gently roll the breads from the parchment onto the stone so the seam is down and the floured side is up.

People magazine staged a whimsical photograph of a local man frying an egg over one of the vents in the coal seam.

The result was a collection that exuded sensuality from every seam.

Levi's sued anyway, arguing its trademarks forbid placing such a label on a vertical seam of a back-pocket.

Roll up the dough lengthwise and pinch together the seam.

When laying down the sarmas, make sure the seam side of the cabbage leaf faces down.

Martin and four other miners dug into a thin seam of coal and inadvertently hit an abandoned, flooded mine.

Afterward, fill any gaps in the glue seam with freshly mixed epoxy applied with the putty knife.

To do that, gouge out the caulking from the seam with a screwdriver or other pointed tool.

Pantaloons of patrolmen to have a white welt sewed into the outer seam of the leg.

Slice the fillet in half lengthwise at its natural seam.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

seam (siːm)

—n
1.	the line along which pieces of fabric are joined, esp by stitching
2.	a ridge or line made by joining two edges
3.	a stratum of coal, ore, etc
4.	a linear indentation, such as a wrinkle or scar
5.	surgery another name for suture
6.	(modifier) cricket of or relating to a style of bowling in which the bowler utilizes the stitched seam round the ball in order to make it swing in flight and after touching the ground: a seam bowler
7.	bursting at the seams full to overflowing
8.	dialect (Northern English) in a good seam doing well, esp financially

—vb
9.	(tr) to join or sew together by or as if by a seam
10.	(US) to make ridges in (knitting) using purl stitch
11.	to mark or become marked with or as if with a seam or wrinkle

[Old English; related to Old Norse saumr, Old High German soum]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

seam

O.E. seam, from P.Gmc. *saumaz (cf. O.N. saumr, O.H.G. soum, Ger. Saum), from PIE base *siw-/*sju- "to sew" (cf. O.E. siwian, L. suere, Skt. syuman; see sew).

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"Chidynge and reproche vnsowen the semes of freendshipe in mannes herte." [Chaucer, "Parson's Tale," c.1386]

Meaning "raised band of stitching on a ball" is recorded from 1888. Geological use is from 1592. Seamless in fig. sense of "whole, integrated" is attested from 1862.

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American Heritage

Science Dictionary

seam (sēm) Pronunciation Key
A thin layer or stratum, as of coal or rock.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

seam

see burst at the seams; come apart at the seams.