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

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

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

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