sew
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to join or attach by stitches.
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to make, repair, etc., (a garment) by such means.
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to enclose or secure with stitches.
to sew flour in a bag.
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to close (a hole, wound, etc.) by means of stitches (usually followed byup ).
verb (used without object)
verb phrase
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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to join or decorate (pieces of fabric, etc) by means of a thread repeatedly passed through with a needle or similar implement
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(tr; often foll by on or up) to attach, fasten, or close by sewing
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(tr) to make (a garment, etc) by sewing
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sew1
First recorded before 900; Middle English seuen, souen, Old English siw(i)an, siowan; cognate with Old High German siuwan, Old Norse sauma, Gothic siujan; akin to Sanskrit sī́vyati “(he) sews,” Latin suere; see also seam
Origin of sew2
First recorded in 1580–90; from Middle French sewer, shortening of essewer, from unattested Vulgar Latin exaquāre, equivalent to Latin ex- “out of, from, thoroughly” + verb derivative of aqua “water”; see also sewer 1
Explanation
Sew describes stitching something together. If you sew up the holes in your socks, you use thread and a needle to close them. The word sew comes from the Old English word siwian, to stitch. You can sew a patch on a pair of jeans, sew a dress, or sew up a hole in your grandmother's old quilt. A figurative meaning of sew, as in the phrase to sew something up, is to secure something or bring it to a happy conclusion, like sewing up the plot in the last chapter of a book. Don't confuse sew with sow, to plant or set in motion.
Vocabulary lists containing sew
Spelling Practice, Unit 8
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Saar would often hire them as assistants in the studio, she explains: “We’d help her sew, or draw, or glue things together.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
He began experimenting with a sewing machine and, in 1846, introduced a foot-powered model that could sew 250 stitches a minute, outracing the fastest human hands by a factor of five.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
PhD fashion students at DMU put on a workshop teaching pupils how to sew and mend damaged clothes.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Others simply mocked the assertion that a new ballroom would sew up the president’s apparent security concerns.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
She taught us to sew and to knit and crochet.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
“They sewed up my wounds and in the early morning I went back to our building,” Sillie said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
The surviving brothers carried on, wearing, Paul later recalled, American uniforms with French patches sewed on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Ireland sewed up the play-off place in the group thanks to Troy Parrott's 96th-minute hat-trick goal handing them a 3-2 win over third-placed Hungary.
From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025
He sells overalls with rain boots sewed in to them on TikTok.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2025
Successive waves of immigrants filled its factories, working for little above minimum wage as they cut, sewed, and hustled the garments into trucks to carry across the country.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
Begum, who did not give her first name, told AFP she had been turned away by many factories in Gazipur despite having experience in sewing and hemming.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
To help meet growing demand, it is appealing for local sewing groups to volunteer their time and skills so more unwanted clothing can be given a second life rather than ending up in landfill.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
It features the base of an old sewing machine pasted over with a cigar box wrapper and the oft-reoccurring theme of a moon, sun and stars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
One invented the telegraph, another created the first revolver, still a third was the father of the American sewing machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
It took a couple of trips, but she ended up bringing out the sewing machine, most of the tools from her first class, a square template, and an iron.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
BH: The two beaded dresses took over a month because every bead was hand beaded and sewn on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
On one trip, then 6-year-old Bridget won a Laura look-alike contest in a handmade pinafore and bonnet sewn by her grandmother.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The dresses have been sewn, the jewellery has been polished and New York's hairdressers and make-up artists have been fully booked ahead of the Met Gala 2026.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
All of this ambiguity is intentional, sewn into the script with as much care as Sam stitches her dresses.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
“And I’m going to replace this zipper, too, Inés. It’s sewn in crooked; didn’t you notice? There are more curves in it than a river.”
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
