the edge of a piece of cloth that has been folded over and sewn, especially on a piece of clothing to take up the hem of a dress (= to make the dress shorter) Wordfindersewbaste, bind, embroidery, hem, lining, seam, sew, stitch, tack, thread See related entries: Parts of clothing Word OriginOld English ‘border of a piece of cloth’, of West Germanic origin. The verb senses date from the mid 16th cent.
Check pronunciation: hem
