Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Clem
Clem
(klĕm)
, Verb.
T.
& I.
[Cf.
clam
to clog, or G. klemmen
to pinch, Icel. klömbra
, E. clamp
.] To starve; to famish.
[Obs.]
B. Jonson.
Webster 1828 Edition
Clem
CLEM
,Verb.
T.
Definition 2024
Clem
Clem
English
Proper noun
Clem
- A diminutive of the male given name Clement.
- A diminutive of the female given name Clementine.
clem
clem
English
Verb
clem (third-person singular simple present clems, present participle clemming, simple past and past participle clemmed)
- (transitive or intransitive) To be hungry; starve.
- 1889, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, Between Two Loves, Ch. VI, p. 110:
- " […] Here he's back home again, and without work, and without a penny, and thou knows t' little one and I were pretty well clemmed to death when thou got us a bit o' bread and meat last night. We were that!"
- 1889, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, Between Two Loves, Ch. VI, p. 110:
- To stick, adhere.
References
Etymology 2
Possibly from clementine, a small round citrus fruit.
Noun
clem (plural clems)
References
- clem in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913