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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

seam.

A folded-back and stitched piece of fabric; especially, the stitching that joins two or more pieces of fabric.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈsiːm/[ˈsɪi̯m]
  1. A folded-back and stitched piece of fabric; especially, the stitching that joins two or more pieces of fabric.

  2. A suture.

  3. A thin stratum, especially of an economically viable material such as coal or mineral.

  4. The stitched equatorial seam of a cricket ball; the sideways movement of a ball when it bounces on the seam.

  5. 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.
  6. A line or depression left by a cut or wound; a scar; a cicatrix.

  7. A line of junction; a joint.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ˈsiːm/[ˈsɪi̯m]
  1. To put together with a seam.

  2. 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.

  3. To mark with a seam or line; to scar.

  4. To crack open along a seam.

  5. Of the ball, to move sideways after bouncing on the seam.

  6. Of a bowler, to make the ball move thus.

Where this word comes from

From the noun seam.

noun/ˈsiːm/[ˈsɪi̯m]
  1. An old English measure of grain, containing eight bushels.

    historical
  2. An old English measure of glass, containing twenty-four weys of five pounds, or 120 pounds.

    historical
Where this word comes from

From Old English sēam (“a burden”), from Latin sagma (“saddle”).

noun/ˈsiːm/[ˈsɪi̯m]
  1. Grease; tallow; lard.

    UK · dialectal · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English seym (“grease”), from Old French saim (“fat”). Compare French saindoux (“lard”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.