Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Needlework consisting of varicolored patches of material sewn together, as in a quilt.
- noun Something made of miscellaneous or incongruous parts or elements.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Work composed of pieces of various colors or figures sewed together, especially a combination of many small pieces of stuff, sewed together edge to edge, to form a curtain, bedspread, or the like.
- noun Work composed of pieces clumsily put together; anything formed of ill-assorted parts.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Work composed of pieces sewed together, esp. pieces of various colors and figures; hence, anything put together of incongruous or ill-adapted parts; something irregularly or clumsily composed; a thing patched up.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
work , such as ablanket , composed of many different colors and shapes, sewn together to make an interesting whole. - noun Any kind of
creation thatutilizes many differentaspects to create one, whole piece. - verb To create a patchwork from pieces of fabric
- verb To
assemble from a variety of sources; to cobble together
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a theory or argument made up of miscellaneous or incongruous ideas
- noun sewing consisting of pieces of different materials sewn together in a pattern
- noun a quilt made by sewing patches of different materials together
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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To describe existing federal policies and regulatory approaches on obesity as a patchwork is an insult to quilts everywhere.
Beating Obesity 2010
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To describe existing federal policies and regulatory approaches on obesity as a patchwork is an insult to quilts everywhere.
Beating Obesity 2010
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In a direct swipe at his brother, Ed, who used a Guardian article on Monday to lambast Nick Clegg for selling out Liberal principles, the shadow foreign secretary will criticise what he calls a patchwork approach to building electoral support.
David Miliband takes 'comfort zone' swipe at Ed in Labour leadership fight 2010
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Barack Obama wants the Federal Reserve to have more authority over regulating financial insitutions, reducing what he calls the patchwork of regulatory authorities that contributed to this crisis.
pfblogs.org: The Ad-Free Personal Finance Blogs Aggregator 2008
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He called the patchwork of transportation modes he used this week—driving, taking the PATH train and riding on NJ Transit—a lesson in "creative commuting."
A Commuter's Week to Forget Shelly Banjo 2011
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The uneven contrasting patchwork is a little surprising.
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Seeing that patchwork is "in" this season, I thought I'd try my hand at making a patchwork purse, since I can't decide on a color.
Purse Diary: I Won It! regina doman 2008
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Seeing that patchwork is "in" this season, I thought I'd try my hand at making a patchwork purse, since I can't decide on a color.
Archive 2008-05-01 regina doman 2008
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Etsy seller Takeahalliday's "Human Anatomy Science Patchwork T-Shirt" uses "different colored and textured fabric used in patchwork to represent the different human organs and rib cage."
Boing Boing 2008
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Making patchwork is likewise a quiet amusement; and if a child is taught to fit it herself, it may be made really useful.
The Mother's Book 1831
yarb commented on the word patchwork
I began musing on the state of my affairs, which were sufficiently out at elbows to require all my skill in patch-work, but the time for reflection as well as for repentance were cut short.
- Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 10 ch. 12
October 10, 2008
reesetee commented on the word patchwork
Second definition: WeirdNet!
October 10, 2008