Seam Meaning
/ˈsiːm/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA folded-back and stitched piece of fabric; especially, the stitching that joins two or more pieces of fabric.
nounA suture.
Sentence Examples
In order to fix this mistake we'll have to tear out this seam.
The mid-ocean range stretches around the globe like the seam of a baseball.
I am walking up the seam of stairs.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The tailor carefully sewed the ____ on the dress so it would not tear.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The tailor carefully stitched the ____ of the jacket to ensure it lay flat.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English seem, seme, from Old English sēam (“seam”), from Proto-West Germanic *saum, from Proto-Germanic *saumaz (“that which is sewn”). Cognate with Dutch zoom (“hem, edge”), German Saum (“hem, edge”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål søm (“seam”), Norwegian Nynorsk saum (“seam”), Swedish söm (“seam”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […] Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas."
— 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
"He even roused himself to go to the mines once more: […]. He sat there, crippled, in a tub, with the under-ground manager showing him the seam with a powerful torch."
— 1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter IX, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC, page 126:
"Precepts should be so finely wrought together[…]that no coarse seam may discover where they join."
— 1697, Joseph Addison, Essay on Virgil's Georgics:
"Seam'd o'er with wounds which his own sabre gave."
— 1725–1726, Homer, “Book 4”, in [William Broome, Elijah Fenton, Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:
"Later their lips began to parch and seam."
— 1880, Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The tailor carefully sewed the ____ on the dress so it would not tear.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The tailor carefully stitched the ____ of the jacket to ensure it lay flat.