What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Hem vs Press - What's the difference?

hem | press | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between hem and press

is that hem is : To surround something or someone in a confining way while press is to lay stress upon, emphasize.

As nouns the difference between hem and press

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 press is a device used to apply pressure to an item.

As verbs the difference between hem and press

is that hem is to make the sound expressed by the word hem; to hesitate in speaking while press is to exert weight or force against, to act upon with with force or weight.

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is obsolete form of 'em|lang=en.

hem

English

Etymology 1

A sound uttered in imitation of clearing the throat (onomatopoeia)

Interjection

(en-interj)!
  • Used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound.
  • See also

    * ahem * haw

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An utterance or sound of the voice like "hem", often indicative of hesitation or doubt, sometimes used to call attention.
  • * Spectator
  • his morning hems

    Verb

    (hemm)
  • To make the sound expressed by the word hem ; to hesitate in speaking.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Hem , and stroke thy beard.
    Derived terms
    * hem and haw

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English hem, hemm, in turn from Old English hemm and related to Middle High German .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (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
  • hem of the sea
  • In sheet metal design, a rim or edge folded back on itself to create a smooth edge and to increase strength or rigidity.
  • Derived terms
    * touch the hem of someone's garment

    Verb

    (hemm)
  • (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.
  • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) hem, from (etyl) .

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • Anagrams

    * ----

    press

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) ).

    Noun

  • (lb) A device used to apply pressure to an item.
  • :
  • #(lb) A printing machine.
  • #:
  • (lb) A collective term for the print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).
  • :
  • *, chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press , the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist), author=Lexington
  • , title= Keeping the mighty honest , passage=British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.}}
  • (lb) A publisher.
  • (lb) (especially in Ireland and Scotland) An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).
  • :
  • *
  • *:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ΒΆ.
  • An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.
  • *1974 , Charles Gaines & George Butler, Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding , p.22:
  • *:This is the fourth set of benchpresses. There will be five more; then there will be five sets of presses on an inclined bench.
  • An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an existing (usually losing) wager in value, but begins even at the time of the bet.
  • :
  • (lb) Pure, unfermented grape juice.
  • :
  • A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:I have misused the king's press .
  • Synonyms
    * (storage space) closet, cupboard, wardrobe (British ) * (printing machine) printing press
    Derived terms
    * alternative press * bench press * fruit press * press cake * press gang * press-mark * press officer * press secretary * shoulder press * trouser press

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) .

    Verb

  • (ambitransitive) to exert weight or force against, to act upon with with force or weight
  • to compress, squeeze
  • to press fruit for the purpose of extracting the juice
  • to clasp, hold in an embrace; to hug
  • She took her son, and press'd
    The illustrious infant to her fragrant breast'' (''Dryden , Illiad, VI. 178.)
  • to reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure, especially flatten or smooth
  • to press cloth with an iron
    to press a hat
  • (sewing) To flatten a selected area of fabric using an iron with an up-and-down, not sliding, motion, so as to avoid disturbing adjacent areas.
  • to drive or thrust by pressure, to force in a certain direction
  • to press a crowd back
  • (obsolete) to weigh upon, oppress, trouble
  • He turns from us;
    Alas, he weeps too! Something presses him
    He would reveal, but dare not.-Sir, be comforted.'' (''Fletcher , Pilgrim, I. 2.)
  • to force to a certain end or result; to urge strongly, impel
  • *
  • The two gentlemen who conducted me to the island were pressed by their private affairs to return in three days.
  • To try to force (something upon someone); to urge or inculcate.
  • to press the Bible on an audience
  • * Dryden
  • He pressed a letter upon me within this hour.
  • * Addison
  • Be sure to press upon him every motive.
  • to hasten, urge onward
  • to press a horse in a race
  • to urge, beseech, entreat
  • God heard their prayers, wherein they earnestly pressed him for the honor of his great name.'' (''Winthrop , Hist. New England, II. 35)
  • to lay stress upon, emphasize
  • If we read but a very little, we naturally want to press it all; if we read a great deal, we are willing not to press the whole of what we read, and we learn what ought to be pressed and what not.'' (''M. Arnold , Literature and Dogma, Pref.)
  • (ambitransitive) to throng, crowd
  • (obsolete) to print
  • To force into service, particularly into naval service.
  • * Dryden
  • To peaceful peasant to the wars is pressed .
    Synonyms
    * *
    Derived terms
    * press charges * press on

    See also

    * hot press (baking, laundry) * hot off the press (printing) * press down

    References

    * Entry for the imperfect and past participle in Webster's dictionary * *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----