A tapestry is a large piece of heavy cloth with a picture sewn on it using coloured threads.
The seats of the chairs had been recovered in tapestry.
He sat on a tapestry cushion next to the hearth.
On the opposite wall is a large tapestry.
2. countable noun
You can refer to something as a tapestry when it is made up of many varied types of people or things.
[literary]
Hedgerows and meadows are thick with a tapestry of wild flowers. [+ of]
...Chicago's political tapestry.
tapestry in British English
(ˈtæpɪstrɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-tries
1.
a heavy ornamental fabric, often in the form of a picture, used for wall hangings, furnishings, etc, and made by weaving coloured threads into a fixed warp
2. another word for needlepoint
3.
a colourful and complicated situation
the rich tapestry of city life
Derived forms
tapestried (ˈtapestried)
adjective
tapestry-like (ˈtapestry-ˌlike)
adjective
Word origin
C15: from Old French tapisserie carpeting, from Old French tapiz carpet; see tapis
tapestry in American English
(ˈtæpəstri)
nounWord forms: pluralˈtapestries
1.
a heavy cloth woven by hand or machinery with decorative designs and pictures and used as a wall hanging, furniture covering, etc.
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈtapestried or ˈtapestrying
2.
to decorate as with a tapestry
usually in the pp.
Word origin
LME tapsterie, earlier tapicerie < MFr tapisserie < OFr tapis, a carpet < MGr tapētion < Gr, dim. of tapēs (gen. tapētos), a carpet, prob. < Iran, as in Pers tāftan, to twist, spin < IE *temp- < base *ten-, to stretch > thin
Examples of 'tapestry' in a sentence
tapestry
Part of the tapestry of my life.
The Sun (2016)
They are all significant stitches in the rich tapestry of history.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The monarchy acts as a golden thread coursing through the rich tapestry of our shared history.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In all of them there were old pictures or old tapestries with strange scenes worked on them.
Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden (1911)
It is a very rich tapestry.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The more people you speak to, the more it becomes a large tapestry.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
These stories are the stuff of football's rich tapestry.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Talk about life 's rich tapestry.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Stories claim that he would sit on a chair and pretend to be a clock or attempt to mount horses that he saw in wall tapestries.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
I am financially better off, but they have had a great life tapestry.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Ah, the rich tapestry of British life.
The Sun (2006)
There was a wonderful but faded 13th-century tapestry on one wall, opposite a stunning contemporary painting.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The tapestries on the walls looked as if a little life had been breathed into them; they became much more than a collection of stitches.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The auction included silverware, furniture, tapestries and other works of art.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The thing to do with a tea service is to drink and eat tea off it, not use it as a painting or a tapestry.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He also enjoyed gardening, painting, tapestry and reading.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
For those already mourning the imminent void in jump racing's rich tapestry, there is heartening news.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Its generous acoustics tended to obscure the rich tapestry of lower strings showcased in the opening concert by the Sixth Brandenburg.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
We grew up in a very magical house, full of tapestries and ancient furniture, a placeof dark forests and maidens to rescue.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
This will provide a snapshot of the rich tapestry of life in the UK for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Now we find him stepping out of the shadows with a sublime debut solo album, a rich tapestry of guitar patterns backing his haunting, heartfelt vocals.
The Sun (2007)
Word lists with
tapestry
craft
In other languages
tapestry
British English: tapestry NOUN
A tapestry is a large piece of heavy cloth with a picture sewn on it using coloured threads.
He stared in wonder at the tapestries on the walls.