Hem vs Ham - What's the difference?
hem | ham |
An utterance or sound of the voice like "hem", often indicative of hesitation or doubt, sometimes used to call attention.
* Spectator
To make the sound expressed by the word hem ; to hesitate in speaking.
* Shakespeare
(sewing) The border of an article of clothing doubled back and stitched together to finish the edge and prevent it from fraying.
A rim or margin of something.
* Shakespeare
In sheet metal design, a rim or edge folded back on itself to create a smooth edge and to increase strength or rigidity.
(in sewing) To make a hem.
(transitive): To put hem on an article of clothing, to edge or put a border on something.
(transitive): To surround something or someone in a confining way.
(anatomy) The region back of the knee joint; the popliteal space; the hock.
(countable) A thigh and buttock of an animal slaughtered for meat.
(uncountable) Meat from the thigh of a hog cured for food.
* (rfdate), Audra Lilly Griffeth, A King's Daughter (ISBN 146915532X):
The back of the thigh.
(internet, informal) Electronic mail that is wanted; mail that is not spam or junk mail.
An overacting or amateurish performer; an actor with an especially showy or exaggerated style.
An amateur radio operator.
To overact; to act with exaggerated emotions.
English terms with multiple etymologies
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As nouns the difference between hem and ham
is that hem is an utterance or sound of the voice like "hem", often indicative of hesitation or doubt, sometimes used to call attention while ham is the region back of the knee joint; the popliteal space; the hock.As verbs the difference between hem and ham
is that hem is to make the sound expressed by the word hem; to hesitate in speaking while ham is to overact; to act with exaggerated emotions.As an interjection hem
is used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound.As a pronoun hem
is obsolete form of 'em|lang=en.As a proper noun Ham is
a son of Noah and the brother of Japheth and Shem.As an initialism HAM is
his Apostolic Majesty, the title given to a number of historical kings of Hungary.hem
English
Etymology 1
A sound uttered in imitation of clearing the throat (onomatopoeia)See also
* ahem * hawNoun
(en noun)- his morning hems
Verb
(hemm)- Hem , and stroke thy beard.
Derived terms
* hem and hawEtymology 2
From Middle English hem, hemm, in turn from Old English hemm and related to Middle High German .Noun
(en noun)- hem of the sea
Derived terms
* touch the hem of someone's garmentVerb
(hemm)Etymology 3
From (etyl) hem, from (etyl) .Anagrams
* ----ham
English
(wikipedia ham)Etymology 1
From (etyl) hamme, from (etyl) . Compare gammon.Noun
(en noun)- a little piece of ham for the cat
- She put some ham in the beans and cut up some sweet potatoes to boil.
Derived terms
* ham-fisted * hambone * hammy, hamstringEtymology 2
From (etyl) .Noun
(-)Usage notes
* Persists in many old place names, such as (Buckingham).References
*Etymology 3
Shortened from , said to derive from the 1863 minstrel show song The Ham-fat Man ."ham", Online Etymology Dictionary
