Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The bottom edge of a skirt, dress, or coat.
  • noun The height of the edge of such a garment, measured from the floor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The line formed by the bottom edge of a skirt, dress, or coat.
  • noun The height of this line, measured from the floor.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the line formed by the lower edge of a skirt or coat

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

hem +‎ line

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Examples

  • That explains the neckline which does not plunge to your belly, revealin much of the beauty of your breasts, and the hemline, which is surely something less than slave short.

    Kajira Of Gor Norman, John, 1931- 1983

  • The bodice has to be made looser if you want to wear it for every day, so cut a larger size on the sides and bust line, and you have to add over 10 inches to the hemline.

    Home Living 2009

  • The first is a long, sleeveless silk dress, which has a looser cut that is "beachy, floaty and has movement" but which also has a slight air of "drama" due to its elegant, floor-dusting hemline.

    Packing Just Enough for a Weekend at the Beach Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan 2011

  • Marabou feathers undulated lazily from the hemline and sleeves of a long, lean gown in black silk that glinted with sequins.

    John Galliano Autumn/Winter 2011: Only 19 Looks, Model Makes Statement With Tattoo (PHOTOS) 2011

  • Soon an elderly man with his tie tied backwards joins them, followed by a brunette in a pencil skirt whose hemline is two inches from committing a crime.

    Inside the Vanity Fair Oscar party 2011

  • Gaga is a deeply gifted thinker, writer, and student of style who, in her first column for V magazine, wrote: I can look at almost any hemline, silhouette, beadwork, or heel architecture and tell you very precisely who designed it first, what French painter they stole it

    Susannah Gora: Lady Gaga: Born This Way... And That Way... And That Way... Susannah Gora 2011

  • After her shoes my eyes caught the repeated glimmer of gold woven throughout the hemline of her dress.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • While European runways may introduce the latest hemline, I suspect that it isn't until Hollywood movie stars adopt the new look that the trend spreads to the general populace.

    Kamran Pasha: Fashion Alert: Fearing Muslims Is The New Black Kamran Pasha 2010

  • After her shoes my eyes caught the repeated glimmer of gold woven throughout the hemline of her dress.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • She points to the Oscar Party Legs, the ones a drunken Jack Nicholson tried to violate after he won for Cuckoo's Nest, and the understated Nonprofit Fundraiser Legs she wore to Jerry Lewis Telethons, and the fake-tanned State Dinner with Reagan and Gorbachev Legs that the Secretary of State made her cover up with a long hemline, because their shade matched Gorbachev's birthmark.

    Centipede Joe Kapitan 2011

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