noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American, Received-Pronunciation:/jɛlm/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɛlm
1
noun
Meaning 1
A bundle of straw laid out straight, chiefly to be used for thatching; a helm.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
To choose and lay out (straw) straight to be used for animal fodder or thatching; to helm.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, dialectal, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To choose and lay out straw straight to be used for animal fodder or thatching; to helm.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, dialectal, intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English yelm, from Old English ġielm (“bunch or handful (of plant stems)”), from Proto-West Germanic *galmi (“bundle or handful of plants”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵhelh3- (“green, yellow”) or *ghel- (“to cut”). The verb is derived from the noun.