stitch
/stɪtʃ
/noun
1A loop of thread or yarn resulting from a single pass or movement of the needle in sewing, knitting, or crocheting.There's the strong likelihood of my stitches sliding off my needles with every movement....
- Our modes and tonality, diverse ingredients and style unite in a tapestry of stitches belonging to different needles.
- Students learn to do math by knitting stitches together, and to count by placing nuts into bags.
1.1A loop of thread used to join the edges of a wound or surgical incision: he had to have sixteen stitches to his head...
- The surgical wound clips or stitches may be removed while in hospital just before going home, but on occasion they will be removed after discharge from hospital by a GP or a nurse.
- Each pile is tied off with a surgical stitch, or suture, and then the pile is cut away.
- When the operation is complete, the incisions are closed with stitches and the four small wounds are covered with dressings.
1.2 [usually with modifier] A method of sewing, knitting, or crocheting producing a particular pattern or design: basic embroidery stitches...
- In Claim 3, it will mean those stitches and the embroidery stitches.
- Though lighter to wear, silk is not as durable as velvet, particularly when confronted with thousands of embroidery stitches.
- As young girls learn embroidery stitches from older women, they are initiated into the culture.
1.3 [in singular, usually with negative] informal The smallest item of clothing: nymphs with come-hither looks and not a stitch on...
- When I shop, I simply must try on every stitch of clothing - it is not unusual to spend two or three hours in the dressing room.
- Kip picks up a black-and-white picture of two men standing outdoors with their arms around each other's slender waists - and not a stitch of clothing on either.
- Why, if their measure is to be taken from this lass, she hasn't a stitch of clothing, let alone a periapt or weapon.
2A sudden sharp pain in the side of the body, caused by strenuous exercise: he was panting and had a stitch...
- I continued running and running, even when I felt a sharp stitch at my side.
- Her legs were starting to grow tired and sore, and a stitch of pain was erupting in her side.
- The stitch in her side burned painfully and her legs ached.
Synonyms
sharp pain, stabbing pain, shooting pain, stab of pain, pang, twinge, spasm
verb [with object]
1Make, mend, or join (something) with stitches: stitch a plain seam with right sides together they stitched the cut on her face (as adjective in combination -stitched) hand-stitched dresses...
- Once the implant is in place, the gum is stitched over it and the area is left to heal.
- Fred had stitched fine patchwork quilts that covered the beds and hung on the walls of his house.
- He had screamed in agony as cuts on his feet were stitched without anaesthetic.
Synonyms
sew, baste, tack, seam, hem;
sew up, repair, mend, darn
2 (stitch someone up) British informal Manipulate a situation so that someone is placed at a disadvantage or wrongly blamed for something: he was stitched up by outsiders and ousted as chairman...
- And as a patriotic Turk at heart and by blood, too, he is confronted by the real probability that his grandfather was stitched up by the very same Turkish establishment he longed to join.
- Mostly, people will tell you that he was stitched up by his players and his assistant and his employers in the union.
- A substantial number within the hospital believes that he was stitched up and made a scapegoat for a practice which appears to be quite normal in many hospitals up and down the country.
Synonyms
falsely incriminate, get someone into trouble
informal frame, set up
British informal fit someone up, drop someone in it
2.1 (stitch something up) Arrange or secure a deal or agreement to one’s advantage: the company has stitched up major deals all over the world to boost sales...
- Early last week, speculation began to emerge that Lehman Brothers was poised to bid and the deal would be stitched up in time for the upcoming results announcement.
- Instead, after a deal was stitched up with the big unions, the conference voted for a statement from the Labour National Executive which linked Britain's eventual withdrawal of troops to the return of democracy in Iraq.
- The only answer must be that a deal has been stitched up between the two men, who agreed over dinner nine years ago that Tony would one day hand over to Gordon.
Phrases
in stitches
a stitch in time saves nine
Derivatives
stitcher
- There is a fantastic range of courses on offer, with something to cater for budding artists, computer fiends, IT beginners, yoga fanatics, chefs, historians and cross stitchers.
- In 1811, an Englishman led riots to destroy the new and efficient fabric looms installed by textile mills, which replaced many of the sewers and stitchers who had been employed by the mills.
- In their latest public showing, the creative stitchers, who met while studying embroidery at Lancaster, have filled the Sedbergh gallery with their diverse and eye-catching work.
stitchery
- The mental state and discipline needed to produce the laborious, meticulous, painstaking stitchery required for the making of watertight kamiks are not evident in Irene's work.
- Don't you like hearing compliments on your stitchery?
- The works consisted of supports ornamented or transformed by process - through tying, binding, unraveling and sewing, as well as stitchery and photographic representation.
stitchless
- Another way of incorporating electrical networks into soldier clothing is through stitchless seam technologies that were first developed by Clemson University with prior Natick Mantech funds.
- Using the sponge, apply a generous amount of stitchless glue to the image side of the copy.
- So far, only about 30 percent of doctors nationwide use the tricky stitchless techniques.
Origin
Old English stice 'a puncture, stabbing pain', of Germanic origin; related to German Stich 'a sting, prick', also to stick2. The sense 'loop' (in sewing etc.) arose in Middle English.
In Anglo-Saxon times stitch was used to describe any sharp stabbing pain rather than just a pain in the side caused by strenuous exercise. The word is related to stick. Shakespeare seems to have been the first to mention a stitch brought on by laughing. In Twelfth Night Maria invites her fellow conspirators to observe the lovelorn Malvolio, saying: ‘If you…will laugh yourselves into stitches, follow me.’ The sewing sense of stitch arose in the Middle Ages. According to the 18th-century proverb, a stitch in time saves nine. In other words, if you sort out a problem immediately, it may save a lot of extra work later. There does not seem to be any particular significance in the choice of the number nine aside from its similarity in sound to the word ‘time’. Stitch up, meaning ‘to frame or betray someone’, is recorded only from the 1970s. It was probably suggested by the betrayal being as neat and conclusive as an invisible repair to an item of clothing.