to touch the hem of someone's garment
- idiom
- Archaic
:
tocar el borde de la vestidura
- In their desperate situation, the villagers longed to touch the hem of his garment for support.
Examples
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The young lawyer hoped to touch the hem of the judge's garment and gain his mentorship.
-
Have you ever touched the hem of someone's garment in prayer?
-
Many fans traveled great distances just for a chance to touch the hem of her garment during the tour.
-
He decided to touch the hem of the garment of the wise elder.
-
In their desperate situation, the villagers longed to touch the hem of his garment for support.
-
Many fans traveled great distances just for a chance to touch the hem of her garment during the tour.
-
The young lawyer hoped to touch the hem of the judge's garment and gain his mentorship.
Synonyms
3
9.6
To beg someone, often in prayer, for help or favor
How Humble
42
7.4
- Archaic
417
1.0
232
3.9
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
touch + the + hem + of + someone's + garment
Although the phrase literally describes contacting the folded edge of clothing from the meanings of 'touch', 'hem' and 'garment', its conventional sense of requesting help, favor, or a blessing is culturally and pragmatically specific and not directly deducible from those constituents. The idiomatic, ritualized reading requires background knowledge (religious or cultural usage) rather than simple compositional reasoning, so a B1 learner would not reliably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Touch the hem of someone's garment may come from stories in the Bible where people reached out to touch the edge of a holy person's cloak to be healed or blessed. The simple image of touching the hem of a garment helps explain why the phrase means 'to seek help or a blessing' from someone important.