GEM • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Gem

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/dʒɛm/ Listen

noun

Gem n.

1.

(Bot.) A bud. "From the joints of thy prolific stem A swelling knot is raised called a gem."

2.

A precious stone of any kind, as the ruby, emerald, topaz, sapphire, beryl, spinel, etc., especially when cut and polished for ornament; a jewel.

3.

Anything of small size, or expressed within brief limits, which is regarded as a gem on account of its beauty or value, as a small picture, a verse of poetry, a witty or wise saying.

Artificial gem, an imitation of a gem, made of glass colored with metallic oxide. Cf. Paste, and Strass.

verb

Gem v. t. (past & past part. gemmed; pres. part. gemming)

1.

To put forth in the form of buds. "Gemmed their blossoms." (R.)

2.

To adorn with gems or precious stones.

3.

To embellish or adorn, as with gems; as, a foliage gemmed with dewdrops. "England is... gemmed with castles and palaces."

See images of 'Gem'

Etymology of 'Gem'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Gem" Quotes from Famous Books

... had given shelter to other lodgers who had called themselves gentlemen, and who had been pompous and grandiose of manner in their intercourse with the widow and her daughter; but O, what pitiful lacquered counterfeits, what Brummagem paste they had been, compared to the real gem! Mary Anne Kepp had seen varnished boots before the humble flooring of her mother's dwelling was honoured by the tread of Horatio Paget, but what clumsy vulgar boots, and what awkward plebeian feet had worn them! The lodger's slim white hands and arched instep, ...

— Birds of Prey • M. E. Braddon

... gift of heaven, with golden fleece, Promised in vain to fix my crown in peace; But base Thyestes, eager for the prey, Crept to my bed, and stole the gem away. ...

— Cicero's Tusculan Disputations - Also, Treatises On The Nature Of The Gods, And On The Commonwealth • Marcus Tullius Cicero

... there came to the principal hotel a starched up little Frenchman, and called for lodgings. He was shown into a small, but well-furnished room, which was the only one in the house that was vacant. He thought himself insulted; and with much warmth said, "Me gem'man—me no sleep here!" A little while afterwards Chancellor Kent, the highest judicial officer in the state, called for lodgings. The landlord told him he was full, excepting one little room, which he did not like ...

— Anecdotes for Boys • Harvey Newcomb

... said that we were eager listeners now, for our guest was all aglow with memories of his far-off homeland and we felt that we were about to see new rays of light flash from this rarest gem in ...

— The Song of our Syrian Guest • William Allen Knight

... would bear their purple heads of fruit; the shining sea beside her, and above her the bold arbutus-covered heights, with the little bells of the sheep sounding on their sides, she saw a large fish, radiant as a gem, with eyes like rubies. Some men had it; a hook was in its golden gills, and they had tied its tail to the hook so that it could not stir, and they had put it in a pail of water that it might not die too quickly, die ere they could sell it. A little ...

— Wisdom, Wit, and Pathos of Ouida - Selected from the Works of Ouida • Ouida

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