embroidery

[ em-broi-duh-ree, -dree ]
See synonyms for embroidery on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural em·broi·der·ies.
  1. the art of working raised and ornamental designs in threads of silk, cotton, gold, silver, or other material, upon any woven fabric, leather, paper, etc., with a needle.

  2. embroidered work or ornamentation.

  1. elaboration or embellishment, as in telling a story.

Origin of embroidery

1
1350–1400; Middle English embrouderie needlework on cloth <Middle French embroud(er) + Middle English -erie-ery; oi from embroider

Words Nearby embroidery

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use embroidery in a sentence

  • She rose comforted, and drawing the baby's cradle out into the veranda, seated herself at her embroidery.

    Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
  • Anyway there was a lot of embroidery on it, full of little holes, which somehow contrived to be extraordinarily fetching.

  • The Ambassador's hotel was constantly thronged from morning to night by visitors in plumes and embroidery.

  • Betty heard her greet the man, and then slipped off to her own room and picked up some half-finished embroidery.

  • He talked with me about his suit, which was made in France, and cost him L200, and very rich it is with embroidery.

British Dictionary definitions for embroidery

embroidery

/ (ɪmˈbrɔɪdərɪ) /


nounplural -deries
  1. decorative needlework done usually on loosely woven cloth or canvas, often being a picture or pattern

  2. elaboration or exaggeration, esp in writing or reporting; embellishment

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012