| Library / English Dictionary |
HEM IN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Surround so as to force to give up
Example:
The Turks besieged Vienna
Synonyms:
beleaguer; besiege; circumvent; hem in; surround
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Hypernyms (to "hem in" is one way to...):
assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hem in"):
blockade; seal off (impose a blockade on)
ebb (hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 2
Meaning:
Surround in a restrictive manner
Example:
The building was hemmed in by flowers
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "hem in" is one way to...):
border; environ; ring; skirt; surround (extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hem in"):
hedge (hinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
