Library / English Dictionary

STITCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A link or loop or knot made by an implement in knitting, crocheting, embroidery, or sewing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("stitch" is a kind of...):

sewing; stitchery (needlework on which you are working with needle and thread)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stitch"):

crochet stitch (any one of a number of stitches made by pulling a loop of yarn through another loop with a crochet needle)

knitting stitch (a stitch taken in knitting)

embroidery stitch; sewing stitch (a stitch made with thread and a threaded sewing needle through fabric or leather)

Derivation:

stitch (fasten by sewing; do needlework)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A sharp spasm of pain in the side resulting from running

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("stitch" is a kind of...):

hurting; pain (a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fasten by sewing; do needlework

Synonyms:

run up; sew; sew together; stitch

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "stitch" is one way to...):

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

"Stitch" entails doing...:

conjoin; join (make contact or come together)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stitch"):

hem (fold over and sew together to provide with a hem)

resew (sew again)

overcast (sew with an overcast stitch from one section to the next)

overcast (sew over the edge of with long slanting wide stitches)

backstitch (do backstitches)

gather; pucker; tuck (draw together into folds or puckers)

finedraw (sew together very finely)

fell (sew a seam by folding the edges)

baste; tack (sew together loosely, with large stitches)

hemstitch (sew with hemstitches)

retick; tick (sew)

cast on (make the first row of stitches when knitting)

cast off (make the last row of stitches when knitting)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They stitch the cape

Derivation:

stitch (a link or loop or knot made by an implement in knitting, crocheting, embroidery, or sewing)

stitcher (a garmentmaker who performs the finishing steps)

stitchery (needlework on which you are working with needle and thread)

stitching (joining or attaching by stitches)

Credits

 Context examples: 

This extremely artful suggestion Mr. Barkis accompanied with a nudge of his elbow that gave me quite a stitch in my side.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get out his instrument case and cut the stitches with his medical scissors.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But I shall not trouble the reader with a particular description of my own mechanics; let it suffice to say, that in six weeks time with the help of the sorrel nag, who performed the parts that required most labour, I finished a sort of Indian canoe, but much larger, covering it with the skins of Yahoos, well stitched together with hempen threads of my own making.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

At three, Daisy demanded a 'needler', and actually made a bag with four stitches in it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And the little tailor hastened to cut himself a girdle, stitched it, and embroidered on it in large letters: Seven at one stroke!

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Still his wife sighed, shook her head sorrowfully, and stitched on.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This knowledge can guide the development of an organic synthetic adhesive that would reduce the risk of infection and scarring compared to stitches and staples and could be applied rapidly and simply.

(New studies may bring slug-made glues closer to use in medicine, Wikinews)

Accordingly, she polished the tablets, pointed the pencil, bought an immense account-book, carefully stitched up with a needle and thread all the leaves of the Cookery Book which Jip had torn, and made quite a desperate little attempt to be good, as she called it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

My attention was now called off by Miss Smith desiring me to hold a skein of thread: while she was winding it, she talked to me from time to time, asking whether I had ever been at school before, whether I could mark, stitch, knit, &c.; till she dismissed me, I could not pursue my observations on Miss Scatcherd's movements.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"Miss Meg March, one letter and a glove," continued Beth, delivering the articles to her sister, who sat near her mother, stitching wristbands.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)