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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

darning egg

In Manorville, L.I., static on a party line was eliminated when telephone company investigators persuaded a woman to stop using her receiver as a darning egg.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

The rod, like a darning egg inside a torn stocking, makes sewing easy.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

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

From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater

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