▪ I. dem, v.1 Obs. exc. dial.
[OE. -dęmman in fordęmman: see dam n.1]
trans. or absol. To dam, obstruct the course of water, etc.
| [c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Spelm., Trin. MS.) lvii. 4 (Bosw.) Swa swa nædran deafe, and fordemmende earan heora.] c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 384 Vche a dale so depe þat demmed at þe brynkez. 1513 Douglas æneis xi. vii. 9 Riuerys..Brystand on skelleis our thir demmyt lynnis. Mod.Sc. (Roxburghshire) Trying to dem the stream. |
Hence ˈdemming vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1908 (Cott.) [Noe] baid seuen dais in rest, for doute if ani demmyng brest. c 1340 Ibid. 11934 (Fairf.) Ihesu and othir childryn..went hem by the rever to gamyn..And demmynges [Cott. lakes] vij made of clay. |
▪ II. dem, v.2
formerly demn.
Minced form of damn; so demd for damned.
† 1. To damn, condemn. Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 144 (MS. C.) Þise possessioneres preche and dempne freres. 1650 Baxter Saints' R. i. viii. (1662) 132 He is dead and demned in point of Law. |
2. In profane use. (So dem-me, demmy = damme, damn me!; dem, for demd adv. = damned 4 b.)
| 1695 Congreve Love for L. ii. ii, Oh, demn you, toad! 1720 Humourist 50 A Beau cries Dem me. 1753 Scots Mag. Oct. 491/1, I now advanced to By Jove, 'fore Ged, Geds curse it, and Demme. 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 374 Give me your person, dem your gold! 1801 Sporting Mag. XVII. 23 Swear in a commanding military dem-me. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xvii, Two demd fine women: real Countesses. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis iii, What a dem fine woman Mrs. Jones was. Ibid. liii, Miss Bell's a little countrified. But the smell of the hawthorn is pleasant, demmy. |
▪ III. dem
(dɛm)
Caribbean and Black English var. of them pers. pron. 1, 3, 5.
| 1868 T. Russell Etymol. Jamaica Gram. 13 The personal pronouns are..Plur. 3rd person Dem, all cases Mas. Fem. Neuter. 1895 Banks & Smiley in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 256/2 Dem vines is love. 1907 W. Jekyll Jamaican Song & Story 32 Me see enough yam, me feel dem put dem a fire. 1928 J. Peterkin Scarlet Sister Mary xxxi. 336 Pray widout ceastin until dem stripes come clean and you soul gets white as snow. 1953 S. A. Brown in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 41/2 Dem wuz good ole times, marster. 1973 Sunday Express (Trinidad & Tobago) 1 Apr. 12/4 At that point, I give the wife a high sign and I take off. Not me and the tourists and dem. 1981 Westindian World 28 Aug. 4/1 De lads of Arkville have finally realised that dem have to be practical. |
▪ IV. dem
colloq. abbrev. of demonstration (sense 5); also, a demonstration of (the operation of) a commercial product, esp. a piece of apparatus.
| 1968 M. Butterworth Walk softly, in Fear iii. 37 A pencilled scrawl in my old diary: Dem 2 lb fan Willocks, which means that a sweet-and-tobacconist named Willocks had half agreed to be shown a two-pound scale that day. Ibid., ‘Give us the toffee dem, Hes’, pleaded Demauney. 1970 J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers iv. 89 This setting is influenced by the nature of the music, whether we..want the music purely as a background or whether we wish to impress guests with a fully-fledged hi-fi ‘dem’. 1981 Pop. Hi-Fi Mar. 75/2, I..would quibble with one or two turntable/arm/cartridge combinations..judging by the dem I received of JBE/Dynavector arm/Dynavector Karat Ruby cartridge. |
▪ V. dem
obs. form of deem v.