Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To ornament with needlework: embroider a pillow cover.
- v. To make by means of needlework: embroider a design on a bedspread.
- v. To add embellishments or fanciful details to: embroider the truth.
- v. To make needlework.
- v. To add embellishments or fanciful details.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To decorate with ornamental needlework. See embroidery.
- To work with the needle upon a ground; produce or form in needlework, as a flower, a cipher, etc.: as, to embroider silver stars on velvet.
- Figuratively, to embellish; decorate with verbal or literary ornament; hence, to falsify or exaggerate: as, the story has been considerably embroidered.
Wiktionary
- v. To stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread of various colours.
- v. To add imaginary detail to a narrative to make it more interesting or acceptable.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To ornament with needlework.
WordNet 3.0
- v. decorate with needlework
- v. add details to
Etymologies
- Middle English embrouderen, partly from embrouden (from brouden, broiden, braided, embroidered, from Old English brogden, past participle of bregdan, to weave; see braid) and partly from Old French embroder (en-, intensive pref.; see en-1 + broder, brosder, to embroider of Germanic origin).
Examples
“Th 'embroider'd hauberk, through the body, through”
La Chanson de Roland : Translated from the Seventh Edition of Léon Gautier
“_Milton_! whose Muse Kisses th 'embroider'd Skies,”
Discourse on Criticism and of Poetry (1707) From Poems On Several Occasions (1707)
“I wish I could pronounce "embroider" as "embroidree" and always have everyone know exactly what I mean.”
“I can embroider names on baby blankets (my favorite baby gift to give), there are several different 'fancy' stitches, the buttonhole is very easy to use, you can attach a walking foot for quilting and you can also buy cards with embroidery designs to use in the machine.”
“He says he's in the process of developing a company website and licensing deals so he can embroider sports-team and other trademarked logos.”
The Wall Street Journal: Military Veterans Prepare for a New Role
“Ms. KLEIN: A group of women who decided to embroider, to kind of keep the art of embroidery alive, they decided to embroider pornographic images.”
“SIMON: I mean let's explain how it goes, practically, is people will come to him and they'll have a story about why they fled their country but he feels he's got to embroider it to have a chance of making an impression.”
“One gentleman said he would embroider a hat with FUBO on it.”
“One Club spent months collecting tiny bits of thread so they could embroider a gift for us.”
The Huffington Post: Pam Allyn: A New Girls and Women's Literacy Empowerment Movement
“We embroider in the Far East, for example, and our manufacturers are all over the world.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘embroider’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Figuratively
Words with definitions containing "figuratively."
spore, plunge, fulminate, rasp, hinge, niche, breathe, approach, hammer, rain, butcher, dazzle and 128 more...
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