seam

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

seam, n. [See Saim.].

 Grease; tallow; lard.  Shak. Dryden.  [1913 Webster]

seam, n. [OE. seem, seam, AS. seám; akin to D. zoom, OHG. soum, G. saum, LG. soom, Icel. saumr, Sw. & Dan. söm, and E. sew. Sew to fasten with thread.].

•  The fold or line formed by sewing together two pieces of cloth or leather.  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, a line of junction; a joint; a suture, as on a ship, a floor, or other structure; the line of union, or joint, of two boards, planks, metal plates, etc.  [1913 Webster]

  "Precepts should be so finely wrought together . . . that no coarse seam may discover where they join."  [1913 Webster]
•  A thin layer or stratum; a narrow vein between two thicker strata; as, a seam of coal.  [1913 Webster]
•  A line or depression left by a cut or wound; a scar; a cicatrix.  [1913 Webster]

Seam blast, a blast made by putting the powder into seams or cracks of rocks. -- Seam lace, a lace used by carriage makers to cover seams and edges; -- called also seaming lace. -- Seam presser. (Agric.) (a) A heavy roller to press down newly plowed furrows. (b) A tailor's sadiron for pressing seams. Knight. -- Seam set, a set for flattering the seams of metal sheets, leather work, etc.

seam, v. t. 

•  To form a seam upon or of; to join by sewing together; to unite.  [1913 Webster]
•  To mark with something resembling a seam; to line; to scar.  [1913 Webster]

  "Seamed o'er with wounds which his own saber gave."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

seam, v. i. 

 To become ridgy; to crack open.  [1913 Webster]
"Later their lips began to parch and seam."  [1913 Webster]

seam, n. [AS. seám, LL. sauma, L. sagma a packsaddle, fr. Gr. . See Sumpter.].

 A denomination of weight or measure.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

seam, n. & v.
--n.
1 a line where two edges join, esp. of two pieces of cloth etc. turned back and stitched together, or of boards fitted edge to edge.
2 a fissure between parallel edges.
3 a wrinkle or scar.
4 a stratum of coal etc.
--v.tr.
1 join with a seam.
2 (esp. as seamed adj.) mark or score with or as with a seam.

Idiom

bursting at the seams full to overflowing. seam bowler Cricket a bowler who makes the ball deviate by bouncing off its seam.

Derivative

seamer n. seamless adj.

Etymology

OE seam f. Gmc

THESAURUS

seam

abysm, abyss, ankle, arroyo, articulation, band, bed, bedding, belt, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, blotch, bond, boundary, box canyon, brand, breach, break, butt, canyon, cavity, cervix, chalk, chalk up, chap, chasm, check, check off, chimney, chink, cicatrix, cicatrize, cleft, cleuch, clinch, closure, clough, col, connecting link, connecting rod, connection, couche, coulee, couloir, coupling, course, crack, cranny, crevasse, crevice, cut, cwm, dapple, dash, deck, defile, define, delimit, dell, demarcate, dike, discolor, ditch, donga, dot, dovetail, draw, elbow, embrace, engrave, excavation, fault, fissure, flaw, fleck, floor, flume, fracture, freckle, furrow, gallery, gap, gape, gash, gliding joint, gorge, groove, gulch, gulf, gully, hatch, hinge, hinged joint, hip, hole, impress, imprint, incision, interface, join, joining, joint, junction, juncture, kloof, knee, knuckle, layer, leak, ledge, level, line, link, lode, make a mark, mark, mark off, mark out, measures, miter, moat, mortise, mottle, neck, nick, notch, nullah, opening, overlayer, overstory, pass, passage, pencil, pepper, pivot, pivot joint, point, prick, print, punch, punctuate, puncture, rabbet, ravine, rent, riddle, ridge, rift, rime, rupture, scar, scarf, scarify, scissure, score, scotch, scratch, seal, shelf, shoulder, slit, slot, speck, speckle, split, splotch, spot, stage, stain, stamp, step, stigmatize, stitch, story, stratum, streak, striate, stripe, substratum, superstratum, suture, symphysis, tattoo, thickness, tick, tick off, tie rod, tier, toggle, toggle joint, topsoil, trace, trench, underlayer, underline, underscore, understory, understratum, union, valley, vein, void, wadi, weld, wrist, zone

ROGET THESAURUS

seam

Junction

N junction, joining, joinder, union connection, conjunction, conjugation, annexion, annexation, annexment, astriction, attachment, compagination, vincture, ligation, alligation, accouplement, marriage infibulation, inosculation, symphysis, anastomosis, confluence, communication, concatenation, meeting, reunion, assemblage, coition, copulation, sex, sexual congress, sexual conjunction, sexual intercourse, love-making, joint, joining, juncture, pivot, hinge, articulation, commissure, seam, gore, gusset, suture, stitch, link, miter mortise, closeness, tightness coherence, combination, annexationist, joined, joint, conjoint, conjunct, corporate, compact, hand in hand, firm, fast, close, tight, taut, taught, secure, set, intervolved, inseparable, indissoluble, insecable, severable, jointly, in conjunction with, fast, firmly intimately, tria juncta in uno.