patchwork
Americannoun
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patchworks
plural
adjective
verb (used with object)
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to make as patchwork.
She specializes in patchworking skirts.
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to assemble or connect in making patchwork.
to patchwork neckties into bedspreads.
noun
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needlework done by sewing pieces of different materials together
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something, such as a theory, made up of various parts
a patchwork of cribbed ideas
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of patchwork
Vocabulary lists containing patchwork
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:
Many deaf children in Kenya learn a patchwork of makeshift signs, and the local dialect lacks many technical terms used to teach subjects like maths and biology.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
Whatever the scholarly truth, it’s safe to say that “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” to give this late romance its full title, is a patchwork.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Across the country, access to recess remains a patchwork, shaped by how laws are enforced.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
Her mother, Avie Lee Parton, even made her daughter a new patchwork coat to put on display at the museum inside the Dollywood theme park in her home state of Tennessee.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The collapsed empires of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia were replaced by a patchwork of smaller nations with their own armies, alliances, and jealousies.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Lek’s paintings are so layered that they have been likened to quilts — rich patchworks that remind viewers how much more there is to see.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
Across the state, Marshall has documented the transformation of landscapes historically characterized by patchworks of saplings, mature trees, shrubs and meadows — all shaped by frequent, small fires.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023
The artist instinctively assembles scraps of wrinkled fabric that are painted — and sometimes overpainted — to craft patchworks that may suggest but never literally depict the natural world.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2022
Scientists hope patchworks of multi-coloured crops will help hide them "in plain sight" from pests as a natural alternative to pesticides.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2022
It makes the stories patchworks, not beautiful rugs.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
