Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act, occupation, or hobby of one who sews.
  • noun The article on which one is working with needle and thread; needlework.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The serving of food; the duty of a sewer or server.
  • noun See suing.
  • noun The act or occupation of one who sews or uses the needle.
  • noun A piece of work with needle and thread.
  • noun In bookbinding, the operation of fastening together with thread the sections of a book.
  • noun plural Compound threads of silk wound, cleaned, doubled, and thrown, to be used for sewing.
  • noun In lace-making, the operation of securing one piece of lace to another by any process, as when fresh threads and bobbins are introduced into the work, or when finished pieces are combined by working the background to both of them.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act or occupation of one who sews.
  • noun That which is sewed with the needle.
  • noun (Harness making) a clamp, operated by the foot, for holding pieces of leather while being sewed.
  • noun a machine for sewing or stitching.
  • noun (Bookbinding) a fixture or table having a frame in which are held the cords to which the back edges of folded sheets are sewed to form a book.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of sew.
  • noun The action of the verb to sew.
  • noun Something that is being or has been sewn.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun joining or attaching by stitches
  • noun needlework on which you are working with needle and thread

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sewing.

Examples

  • ZAHN: Tell us more about the strength and courage you found in abundance in what you call the sewing circles of Herat.

    CNN Transcript Dec 18, 2002 2002

  • The girls who come out together, all in a batch, like a hive of bees swarming, spend the rest of their lives together; and they have what they call sewing circles, that go on all their lives.

    An American Politician 1881

  • Unless you have a book binding machine, sewing is probably the next best option.

    Recycle An Old Book Into A Journal | Lifehacker Australia 2010

  • Mrs Irontius Lou said ... nice idea! but when I'm not so good in sewing and would like to try learning, what sewing method and sewing machine do u think I should use?? thanks

    Beach Scenes 2009

  • This now begs the question, how much input will Joss have in sewing up the Marvel film franchise with Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and Nick Fury coming into play over the next couple of summers?

    2010 April « Monster Scifi Show Blog 2010

  • The sewing is something I am very interested in and will be checking back from time to time.

    Fret Not 2009

  • It's so true, that sewing is actually hard labour, and while one is sweating at the machine, the housework will not be done!

    Sensibility Regency Pattern 2009

  • More recently, the building has served as a meeting place for students 'mothers to take classes in sewing and English as a second language.

    Parents Enroll in Protest Joe Barrett 2010

  • I have not been doing anything serious in sewing or hospitality or home making because I was thinking I would just wait til the restoration of the kitchen was finished.

    Paper hearts 2009

  • A tailor/seamstress of not-so-fancy clientele would I expect have been able to whip up simple garments reasonably quickly (especially if you were prepared to pay): plain sewing doesn't take so very long, even by hand, if you know what you're doing.

    kateelliott: Question for the Hive Mind kateelliott 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.