darning egg

American  

noun

1. a smooth, egg-shaped piece of wood, ivory, marble, jade, or the like, for holding under a hole or tear to serve as a backing while darning.

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darning egg British  

noun

1. a rounded piece of wood or plastic used in darning to support the fabric around the hole

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Etymology

Origin of darning egg

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Six beads from a child’s necklace, five building blocks, a darning egg, a bone, a small harmonica, and a partly consumed lollipop.

From Literature

Lee looked up from his darning egg.

From Literature

Her mother moved her chair to follow it and dropped her darning egg, which the girl handed to her.

From Project Gutenberg

Which brings everyone to Mikhail Gorbachev, who is nearly as bald as a darning egg, and to the upstart Boris Yeltsin, whose mane of graying locks ruffles conspicuously these days in the winds of change.

From Time Magazine Archive

He should have realized that the corsage is as dead as the darning egg.

From Time Magazine Archive