em

noun \ ˈem \

Definition of em

1 :the letter m

2 :the width of a piece of type about as wide as it is tall used as a unit of measure of typeset matter

Recent Examples of em from the Web

The trick is, of course, to quickly turn the incoming EM waves into acoustic waves.

— matthew hutson, Science | AAAS, "Mini-antennas could power brain-computer interfaces, medical devices," 22 Aug. 2017
Yeah, white supremacists and LGBTQ folk, throw ‘em in a bag like Skittles, shake ‘

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Black Republicans Do Not Have Donald Trump’s Back," 17 Aug. 2017
Even just those two extra hours count, so get ‘em in.

— eden univer, Cosmopolitan, "Exactly How to Make Your Eyes Look Bigger and Brighter," 24 July 2017
The rest carry a $2,150 guarantee: Texas Hold ‘em at 2 p.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Thursdays; a mixed game at 7 p.m. Mondays, a bounty tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and a Crazy Pineapple tournament at 2 p.m. Saturdays.

— nick sortal, miamiherald, "Top poker pro, backer caught up in dispute," 18 July 2017
And the Cavs have gone to three -- count em -- three Finals with him on the roster.

— joe vardon, cleveland.com, "LeBron James will be a Cleveland Cavalier next season, but who will join him?," 19 June 2017
That, plus a delay in the release of Take-Two Interactive’s Western shoot-em-up Red Dead Redemption 2, put a damper on GameStop’s outlook.

— christopher palmeri, star-telegram, "GameStop shares fall despite beating the street in first quarter," 26 May 2017
President Trump’s 140-character tweet style of mass communication—with its em dash misuse, random capitalization, and misplaced exclamation!— might portend the future of American politics in which words don’t particularly matter.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Yes, We Could, But Can We Now? Reflections on Obama’s Speeches," 9 May 2017
Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria--most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh.

— lisa gutierrez, kansascity, "They’re baaack: Creepy killer clowns are terrorizing children again," 5 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'em.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of em

13th century

Other Alphabet Terms

cuneiform, linear, minuscule, pictograph, rune, symbology, wedge

EM

abbreviation

Definition of EM

1 electromagnetic

2 electron microscope; electron microscopy

3 end matched

4 engineer of mines

5 enlisted man

Other Electrical Engineering Terms

feedback, fuse, incandescent, noise, resonance

em-

Definition of em-

— see en-

EM Defined for Kids

em-

Definition of em- for Students

see en-

Medical Dictionary

EM

abbreviation

medical Definition of EM

1 electromagnetic

2 electron microscope; electron microscopy

3 emergency medicine

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em

Definition of em

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Recent Examples of em from the Web

First Known Use of em

Other Alphabet Terms

EM

Definition of EM

Other Electrical Engineering Terms

em-

Definition of em-

EM Defined for Kids

em-

Definition of em- for Students

Medical Dictionary

EM

medical Definition of EM

Learn More about em

Seen and Heard

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