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:
On-site operations have been complicated by the fens' terrain -- a patchwork of heath, peat bogs and raised wooden boardwalks.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Companies have had mixed opinions about the ingredient regulatory effort, since some have pushed Congress to pass rules that could pre-empt a patchwork of state laws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Both “Secret Wars” series saw characters displaced onto a patchwork planet called Battleworld.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
The biggest changes are visible across Conwy, Flintshire, Denbighshire and Merseyside, where areas that were previously a patchwork of green fields and grassland are now covered by light brown tones, indicating extensive vegetation stress.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
My eyes were puffy and my Band-Aids made a patchwork pattern on my legs and arms.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
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
The walls of these houses were patchworks of wood or aluminum or metal or whatever scraps were lying around.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
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.
