Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- pro. Informal Contraction of them.
Wiktionary
- pro. Them (typically after a preposition, or otherwise with accusative or dative force; now only in unstressed position).
GNU Webster's 1913
- An obsolete or colloquial contraction of the old form
hem , them.
Etymologies
- Earlier hem, from Old English him, heom, originally a dative plural form but in Middle English coming to serve as an accusative plural as well. (Wiktionary)
- From Middle English hem, from Old English him, heom, dative and accusative pl. of hē, he; see he1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I can't recall the name of 'em; they made some fun of her appearance.”
“You'd call 'em up and say, If you've got some time would you do this.”
“You'd call 'em up and say, "If you've got some time would you do this?”
“It lists five, count 'em, five different press people to keep the Anna Chapman juggernaut moving along:”
“That's when we jump 'em," a Democratic strategist told me.”
“The Visitors sure turned it out for their finale last night and if this is the final time we see 'em, at least they made it a bloodbath to remember.”
“He wasn't a 'pat you on the back, go get 'em kid' type of guy.”
The Washington Post: Harvey Dorfman, psychologist to top baseball stars, dies at 75
“Consider that there have now been five, count 'em five, inquiries into the matter.”
The Huffington Post: David Roberts: What We Have and Haven't Learned From 'Climategate'
“Exec producer Maria Bell gave TV Guide Magazine all the juicy deets, so look for 'em in the March 21 issue, on sale next week!”
Exclusive: Sean Patrick Flanery Joins The Young and the Restless
“Tyson loves 'em and has since his hard-scrabble youth.”
The Washington Post: Mike Tyson, pigeon fancier, makes his Animal Planet debut
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘em’.
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Bigrams
Two-letter words that are common. For a full list of all possible 2-letter words, check out this list.
my, by, ay, ax, ew, aw, ix, it, at, is, as, ox and 39 more...
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Wurzelspeak
Cribbed from Wurzelmania: 'This page contains a dictionary of West Country words and phrases used by Adge Cutler and The Wurzels in their songs, patter, etc., translated into (more or less) English...
bissn't, bist, cassn't, couss, coussn't, dollop, 'ee, 'em, girt, hassn't, i, jollop and 22 more...
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fcsuper's Words
Tweets
Looking for tweets for em.
frindley But be sure to use an apostrophe and not an open quote or a vertical accent for ’em. Sep 26, 2008
bilby List 'em if ya got 'em. Sep 26, 2008