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Meaning of "em dash" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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PRONUNCIATION OF EM DASH

em dash play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF EM DASH

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Em dash is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES EM DASH MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Dash

A dash is a punctuation mark that is similar to a hyphen or minus sign, but differs from both of these symbols primarily in length and function. The most common versions of the dash are the en dash and the em dash, named for the length of a typeface's lower-case n and upper-case M respectively. Usage varies both within English and in other languages, but the usual convention in printed English text is: ▪ Either version may be used to denote a break in a sentence or to set off parenthetical statements. In this function, en dashes are used with spaces and em dashes are used without them: A flock of sparrows—some of them juveniles—alighted and sang. A flock of sparrows – some of them juveniles – alighted and sang. ▪ The en dash is also used to indicate spans or differentiation, where it may be considered to replace "and" or "to": The French and Indian War was fought in western Pennsylvania and along the present US–Canadian border. ▪ The em dash is also used to set off the sources of quotes: "In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing."—Oscar Wilde...

Definition of em dash in the English dictionary

The definition of em dash in the dictionary is a dash one em long.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE EM DASH

em
em rule
emaciate
emaciated
emaciation
emacs
emacsen
emalangeni
emanant
emanate
emanation
emanational
emanatist
emanative
emanator
emanatory
emancipate
emancipated
emancipation
emancipationist

WORDS THAT END LIKE EM DASH

balderdash
bardash
bedash
burdash
cut a dash
dash
en dash
interdash
pebble dash
pebbledash
slapdash
spatterdash
swung dash

Synonyms and antonyms of em dash in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «em dash» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF EM DASH

Find out the translation of em dash to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of em dash from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «em dash» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

破折号
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

guión largo
570 millions of speakers

English

em dash
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

उन्हें पानी का छींटा
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

م اندفاعة
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

тире
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

los traço
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

এম ড্যাশ
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

em dash
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Em dash
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Gedankenstrich
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

全角ダッシュ
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

전각 대시
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Em dash
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

em dash
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

Em dash
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

Em डॅश
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Em çizgi
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

em dash
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

em kreska
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

тире
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

em liniuță
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

παύλα em
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

em dash
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

tankstreck
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

em dash
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of em dash

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «EM DASH»

The term «em dash» is normally little used and occupies the 111.761 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Little used
48
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «em dash» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of em dash
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «em dash».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «EM DASH» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «em dash» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «em dash» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about em dash

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «EM DASH»

Discover the use of em dash in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to em dash and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Copyediting and Proofreading For Dummies
The em dash is roughly the same width as the letter m in that typeface. An em dash is used to separate subordinate clauses in sentences in which commas are also used or in which there is an abrupt change in continuity. To indicate an em ...
Suzanne Gilad, 2011
2
Exploring Adobe InDesign CS6
The first type of dash is an em dash. An em is a flexible unit ofmeasure Keyboard Shortcut that corresponds to the point size of the type. For instance, an em in 5- point type would be 5-points wide, while an em in lO-point type would be ...
Terry Rydberg, 2012
3
Grammatically Correct
There is the en dash, which is roughly the width of the capital letter N in whatever font is being used; the em dash, which is the width of the letter M; and the 2-em dash and 3-em dash, which are the widths of two and three side-by-side Af s, ...
Anne Stilman, 2004
4
Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, ...
Em-Dash (— ) 4-20 The length of the em-dash is equal to the size in points of the typeface; thus the em-dash in 10-point type is 10 points long (wide). The name " em-dash" indicates that this length approximates the width of the capital letter M.
‎1994
5
The Christian Writer's Manual of Style
en dash - one-em dash — — two-em dash -»~ three-em dash After the hyphen ( see “Hyphenation”), the em dash ( — ) is the most frequently used dash in ordinary writing. When used alone, the word dash usually refers to an em dash.
Robert Hudson, 2010
6
Photoshop CS5: The Missing Manual
To create an em dash on a Mac, press Shift-Option-Hyphen (on a PC, press Alt and hold — Improperly spaced ellipses (...). An ellipsis indicates an omission, interruption, or hesitation in thought, as in, “But...but...you promised!” Instead of ...
Lesa Snider, 2010
7
Integrated HTML and CSS: A Smarter, Faster Way to Learn
EN DASHES AND EM DASHES Another special character code in Ch 6_sta rt . html is the em dash. Look for it in Rule 4 in the example XHTML file: Okay, sometimes the animated gifs are cute—for about three seconds—but do ...
Virginia DeBolt, 2006
8
iWork '09: The Missing Manual: The Missing Manual
What you want is an em dash—so called because it's the width of an uppercase M. Create it with the ShiftOption-hyphen key combination. Deleting Text More word processing basics: If you've just made. 52 iWork '09: The Missing Manual ...
Josh Clark, 2009
9
On Book Design
em dash— unspaced em dash — with space en dash-unspaced en dash-with space The unspaced em dash is not only ugly, it also lacks logic, for it is meant to separate, not to connect. — Hans Schmoller Use an en dash (not a hyphen) with  ...
Richard Hendel, 1998
10
Adobe Dreamweaver CS3: The Professional Portfolio
Inscrt €m DnsHcs mo Non-Brcaking Spnccs The em dash is as wide as an uppercase M. This dash can be used to separate part of a sentence — an aside — from the rest of a sentence. Unless the author of the document knows how to insert ...
Kendra/Poyssick, 2008

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «EM DASH»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term em dash is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Racing in the rain at the Cheetah Chase
In total, the series features three races: The Cereal City Classic, the Cheetah Chase and the Dig 'Em Dash. "It feels pretty good. The course was ... «Battle Creek Enquirer, Jun 15»
2
Cheetah Chase offers runners a different experience
The Cheetah Chase is the second leg of the Cereal City Stampede 5K series, which also features the Cereal City Classic and the Dig 'Em Dash ... «Battle Creek Enquirer, Jun 15»
3
Summertime Serious questions
Punctuation: Is there really a difference between the hyphen, em dash and en dash? What is now the deal with all the hyphens supposedly in ... «ChicagoNow, Jun 15»
4
Cereal City Stampede keeps you running all summer
The series features three races: The Cereal City Classic, the Cheetah Chase and the Dig 'Em Dash. "The main focus of the Stampede is to get ... «Battle Creek Enquirer, Jun 15»
5
Running notebook: Cereal City Classic changes things up
"Like the Cheetah Chase and their great environment of running through the Binder Park Zoo or the Dig'Em Dash with all of the Kellogg ... «Battle Creek Enquirer, Jun 15»
6
Huawei's PR fail highlights wrongheaded approach for China's tech …
... no punctuation or grammar errors. (I suppose you could consider the use of - instead of the em dash an error, but that's part of our site style). «Tech in Asia, Jun 15»
7
12 Grammar Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making [Cheat Sheet]
Here's a quick refresher: the hyphen is the shortest ( -), the en dash is a little longer (– ), and the em dash is the longest (— ). Use hyphens for ... «Business 2 Community, Jun 15»
8
The Gotham Girls, NYC's Queens Of Roller Derby
For example, award-winning Manhattan Mayhem jammer and blocker Margot Atwell goes by Em Dash on the track. Better known as the ... «NYU Local, Apr 15»
9
Sea Change: Enduring mud season strengthens roots in Maine
Maine has no such spring. Here “spring” is a mere em dash between the lingering mud of late winter and the basking days of high summer. «Press Herald, Apr 15»
10
No Punctuation Is Funnier
... formalities like an em dash into signs of marriageability (at least to this woman). But to see man outpace machine, look no further than Twitter, ... «Huffington Post, Mar 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Em dash [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/em-dash>. May 2024 ».
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