seamseam /siːm/ noun [countable] 
She was repairing Billy’s trousers, where the seam had come undone. Join the shoulder seams together.2a layer of a mineral under the groundseam of coal/iron etc3be coming/falling apart at the seams a)if a plan, organization etc is coming apart at the seams, so many things are going wrong with it that it will probably fail: The health service seems to be falling apart at the seams. b)if a piece of clothing is coming apart at the seams, the stitches on it are coming unfastened4be bursting/bulging at the seams if a room or building is bursting at the seams, it is so full of people that hardly anyone else can fit into it5a (rich) seam of something a thing, place, or group from which a type of thing can be obtained: The 466-page book is a rich seam of statistical information.6a line where two pieces of metal, wood etc have been joined together
WORD ORIGINseam
Origin:
Old EnglishEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Neil's shirt was torn at the shoulder seam.
- Although sturdily built, the handsets were being returned because of cracking and splitting at the seams.
- In New York and elsewhere, a new race consciousness was beginning to tear at the seams of the civil rights consensus.
WORD SETS
agglomerate, nounalabaster, nounanthracite, nounasbestos, nounatoll, nounbasalt, nounbasin, nounbauxite, nounbed, nounbedrock, nounberyl, nounbluff, nouncanyon, nouncape, nouncarboniferous, adjectivechalk, nounchalky, adjectivechasm, nounclay, nouncliff, nouncoal, nouncoastal, adjectivecoastline, nounconglomerate, nouncontinental drift, nouncontinental shelf, nouncore, nouncove, nouncrag, nouncrater, nouncreek, nounCretaceous, adjectivecrevasse, nouncrust, nouncrystal, nouncrystalline, adjectivecrystallize, verbdelta, noundeposit, noundeposition, noundune, noundust bowl, nounearthquake, nounelevation, nounemery, nounepicentre, nounepoch, nounera, nounerode, verberosion, nounerupt, verbescarpment, nounestuary, nounextinct, adjectivefault, nounfeeder, nounfeldspar, nounfiord, nounfjord, nounflint, nounflood plain, nounfluvial, adjectivefold, nounfool's gold, nounfossil, nounfossilize, verbfriable, adjectivegeology, noungeyser, nounglaciation, nounglacier, nounGondwanaland, granite, noungrassland, noungroundwater, noungulf, noungully, nounheadland, nounhinterland, nounhot spring, nounigneous, adjectiveimpervious, adjectiveinactive, adjectiveinlet, nounisthmus, nounjasper, nounjet, nounkaolin, nounknoll, nounlagoon, nounlake, nounlandlocked, adjectivelandslide, nounlandslip, nounlava, nounleach, verblevee, nounlime, nounlimestone, nounloam, nounlowlands, nounmagma, nounmarble, nounmarsh, nounmarshland, nounmatrix, nounmetamorphic, adjectivemica, nounmineral, nounmineralogy, nounmining, nounmoraine, nounmorass, nounmountain, nounmountainside, nounmountaintop, nounmudslide, nounnugget, nounoasis, nounoilfield, nounore, nounoutcrop, nounpalaeontology, nounPalaeozoic, adjectivePangaea, peninsula, nounpermafrost, nounpetroleum, nounpillar, nounpinnacle, nounplate, nounplate tectonics, nounporous, adjectivepothole, nounprairie, nounprecipice, nounpromontory, nounpumice, nounpyrites, nounquartz, nounravine, nounreservoir, nounridge, nounrift, nounrift valley, nounriver, nounrock, nounrock salt, nounsand, nounsand bar, nounsandstone, nounsapphire, nounscarp, nounschist, nounscree, nounseam, nounsediment, nounsedimentary, adjectivesedimentation, nounseismic, adjectiveseismograph, nounseismology, nounsettlement, nounshale, nounshelf, nounshingle, nounsilica, nounsilicate, nounsilt, nounslate, nounstalactite, nounstalagmite, nounstone, nounstrait, nounstrata, stratified, adjectivestratum, nounsubsoil, nounsubstratum, nounsummit, nounterrain, nounthermal, adjectivetopaz, nountopsoil, nountor, nountremor, nountributary, nountrilobite, nountsunami, nountundra, nounturquoise, nounvalley, nounvein, nounvolcanic, adjectivevolcano, nounwatercourse, nounwaterfall, nounwater table, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES She felt as if her life was coming apart at the seams (=failing completely). The health service is falling apart at the seams.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
She felt as if her life was coming apart at the seams (=failing completely). The health service is falling apart at the seams.· The private sector now offers another rich seam to mine.· Life is often richer in these seams than anywhere else.· This produced a rich seam of tips, much of it from the artists at the Theatre Royal during rehearsals.· Logically, a far richer recruitment seam is available where case management is a day-to-day activity-in solicitors' private practice.
NOUN· Press the seam allowance to one side.· Turn under the raw edge of the top seam allowance and tack in place over the trimmed edge.· Also cut one from interfacing, without a seam allowance.· Turn in the raw edges of both seam allowances towards each other and match the folded edges.· Press seam allowance to the wrong side on the lining and notch out in the same way.· Trim seam allowances and clip around curve.
· The sedimentary rocks, with their coal seams, have been folded and faulted.· Table 3. 2 provides individual estimate for gaseous coal seams with the geometric mean used wherever a wide spread is given.· The buried trees became coal seams and the mud and sands turned to shale and sandstone.· Claystones and siltstones containing finely dispersed coaly matter are considered to be good sources - besides many coal seams.· He proposes that the coal seams should be worked in the advance.· Beneath them the coal seams are buried and preserved for our miners today.· They plan to pump a suspension of catalysts in steam and air or hydrogen, down into a coal seam.
· It was badly ripped in the back, in the side seams.· In this case you may want to centre the pattern around the centre of the machine even if this means mismatching side seams.· With a vertical pattern like this there is a further point to consider, the side seams.· Very slowly, its side seam split open and a flute rolled quietly out on to the floor.· Complete herringbone stitching at the lower part of side seams, above the mitres.
VERB· Schools are often bursting at the seams.· Our neighborhood looked like a refugee camp, bursting its seams.· Bedford was already bursting at the seams with refugees of all kinds.· As it is, the Shishu Bhawans seem to be bursting at their seams.· The island couldn't be bursting at the seams, surely?
· She was an idiot, coming apart at the seams, and she hadn't written a word.· It all finally came apart at the seams.· The leisurewear industry would come apart at the seams, literally, without this indispensable fastening.· In your case I suspect the water is coming through the seams on the bulkhead around the footwells.
· It was symptomatic of a system going soft, falling apart at the seams.
· Stitch a plain seam on the wrong side of the fabric. Press the seam allowance to one side.· Remove tacking and cut off the selvedge. Press seam open.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1a line where two pieces of cloth, leather etc have been stitched together: - The country's whole economy is coming apart at the seams.
- The auditorium was bulging at the seams during the governor's talk.
- The island couldn't be bursting at the seams, surely?
- Along the line of her brow lay a seam of piercing pain.
- He shall make half a seam of malt for one work and the lord shall provide firewood.
- This produced a rich seam of tips, much of it from the artists at the Theatre Royal during rehearsals.
She was repairing Billy’s trousers, where the seam had come undone. Join the shoulder seams together.2a layer of a mineral under the groundseam of coal/iron etc3be coming/falling apart at the seams a)if a plan, organization etc is coming apart at the seams, so many things are going wrong with it that it will probably fail: The health service seems to be falling apart at the seams. b)if a piece of clothing is coming apart at the seams, the stitches on it are coming unfastened4be bursting/bulging at the seams if a room or building is bursting at the seams, it is so full of people that hardly anyone else can fit into it5a (rich) seam of something a thing, place, or group from which a type of thing can be obtained: The 466-page book is a rich seam of statistical information.6a line where two pieces of metal, wood etc have been joined together