seam
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old English sēam, from Proto-Germanic *saumaz (“that which is sewn”). Cognate with West Frisian seam, Dutch zoom, German Saum, Swedish söm.
Noun [edit]
seam (plural seams)
- (sewing) A folded back and stitched piece of fabric; especially, the stitching that joins two or more pieces of fabric.
- A suture.
- A thin stratum, especially of coal or mineral.
- (cricket) The stitched equatorial seam of a cricket ball; the sideways movement of a ball when it bounces on the seam.
- An old English measure of grain, containing eight bushels.
- An old English measure of glass, containing twenty-four weys of five pounds, or 120 pounds.
- 1952: As white glass was 6s. the 'seam', containing 24 'weys' (pise, or pondera) of 5 lb., and 2 1/2 lb. was reckoned sufficient to make one foot of glazing, the cost of glass would be 1 1/2d. leaving 2 1/2d. for labour. — L. F. Salzman|, Building in England, p. 175.
- (construction) A joint formed by mating two separate sections of materials.
- Seams can be made or sealed in a variety of ways, including adhesive bonding, hot-air welding, solvent welding, using adhesive tapes, sealant, etc.
- A line or depression left by a cut or wound; a scar; a cicatrix.
- (figuratively) A line of junction; a joint.
- Addison
- Precepts should be so finely wrought together […] that no coarse seam may discover where they join.
- Addison
Translations [edit]
folded back and stitched piece of fabric
suture
thin stratum of mineral
stitched seam of a cricket ball
measure of grain
measure of glass
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
Derived terms [edit]
Verb [edit]
seam (third-person singular simple present seams, present participle seaming, simple past and past participle seamed)
- To put together with a seam.
- 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.
- To mark with a seam or line; to scar.
- Alexander Pope
- Seamed o'er with wounds which his own sabre gave.
- Alexander Pope
- To crack open along a seam.
- (cricket) Of the ball, to move sideways after bouncing on the seam.
- (cricket) Of a bowler, to make the ball move thus.
Quotations [edit]
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Skeleton in Armor:
- Thus, seamed with many scars, / Bursting these prison bars, / Up to its native stars / My soul ascended!
