backstitch
Americannoun
verb (used with or without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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backstitchsimple
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backstitchessimple
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have backstitchedperfect
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has backstitchedperfect
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am backstitchingprogressive
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are backstitchingprogressive
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is backstitchingprogressive
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have been backstitchingperfect progressive
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has been backstitchingperfect progressive
Past
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backstitchedsimple
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had backstitchedperfect
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was backstitchingprogressive
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were backstitchingprogressive
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had been backstitchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of backstitch
First recorded in 1605–15; back 2 + stitch ( def. )
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:
The attendees laughed, but after the joke faded, I noticed my mother looking around thoughtfully, working to understand the new backstitch in the family thread.
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2020
So Nanny learned to "overhand," And "hem" so fine and neat, To "backstitch," "run," and many a join That she could scarce repeat.
From Mother Truth's Melodies Common Sense For Children by Miller, Mrs. E. P.
To sew with backstitches; as, to backstitch a seam.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah
To join the seam in the back— Insert one thickness between the other two ends, and backstitch closely.
From Make Your Own Hats by Martin, Gene Allen
In this case the elastic tourniquet will stop the blood flow as effectively as the Heidenhain backstitch suture method, I think, Miss Merriman, and it will be much simpler.
From 'Smiles' A Rose of the Cumberlands by Taylor, H. Weston
Fasten the thread by passing the needle through to the wrong side and taking two backstitches.
From Handicraft for Girls A Tentative Course in Needlework, Basketry, Designing, Paper and Cardboard Construction, Textile Fibers and Fabrics and Home Decoration and Care by McGlauflin, Idabelle
The usual fastening consists of several backstitches taken in the same place.
From Handicraft for Girls A Tentative Course in Needlework, Basketry, Designing, Paper and Cardboard Construction, Textile Fibers and Fabrics and Home Decoration and Care by McGlauflin, Idabelle
Fasten the threads securely by taking two or three backstitches.
From Handicraft for Girls A Tentative Course in Needlework, Basketry, Designing, Paper and Cardboard Construction, Textile Fibers and Fabrics and Home Decoration and Care by McGlauflin, Idabelle
To sew with backstitches; as, to backstitch a seam.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah
Fasten the threads on the wrong side by taking several backstitches, one over the other, through one thickness of the cloth.
From Handicraft for Girls A Tentative Course in Needlework, Basketry, Designing, Paper and Cardboard Construction, Textile Fibers and Fabrics and Home Decoration and Care by McGlauflin, Idabelle
They made awful close stitches and backstitched every now and then to make it hold.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 6 by Work Projects Administration
Rhoda Hanlan the Masseuse was ostentatiously sewed with double thread and backstitched at that.
From The Sick-a-Bed Lady And Also Hickory Dock, The Very Tired Girl, The Happy-Day, Something That Happened in October, The Amateur Lover, Heart of The City, The Pink Sash, Woman's Only Business by Abbott, Eleanor Hallowell
“Do you know how to cross-stitch? Hem? Can you do backstitching by hand?”
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
At your age, your Aunt Emily was almost an expert needlewoman; she could do overhand, hemming, felling, backstitching, hemstitching, running, catstitching, buttonholes, and a little embroidery.”
From Kristy's Rainy Day Picnic by Farnsworth, Ethel N.
Hem, and fasten the handles to the edge of the hem by backstitching.
From Handicraft for Girls A Tentative Course in Needlework, Basketry, Designing, Paper and Cardboard Construction, Textile Fibers and Fabrics and Home Decoration and Care by McGlauflin, Idabelle
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.
