sew

¹ American  

[soh] / soʊ /

verb (used with object)

sewed, sewn, sewed, sewing

1. to join or attach by stitches.

2. to make, repair, etc., (a garment) by such means.

3. to enclose or secure with stitches.

   to sew flour in a bag.

4. to close (a hole, wound, etc.) by means of stitches (usually followed byup ).

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verb (used without object)

sewed, sewn, sewed, sewing

1. to work with a needle and thread or with a sewing machine.

verb phrase

1. sew up

   1. Informal. to get or have a monopoly of; control exclusively.

   2. Informal. to complete or conclude (arrangements, negotiations, etc.) successfully.

      They were about to sew up the deal when the argument started.

   3. to gain or be assured of.

      He tried to sew up as many votes as possible before the convention.

sew ² American  

[soo] / su /

verb (used with object)

sewed, sewing

1. to ground (a vessel) at low tide (sometimes followed by byup ).

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verb (used without object)

sewed, sewing

1. (of a vessel) to be grounded at low tide.

noun

1. the amount of additional water necessary to float a grounded vessel.

sew British  

/ səʊ /

verb

1. to join or decorate (pieces of fabric, etc) by means of a thread repeatedly passed through with a needle or similar implement

2. (tr; often foll by on or up) to attach, fasten, or close by sewing

3. (tr) to make (a garment, etc) by sewing

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Other Word Forms

• sewable
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of sew¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English seuen, souen, Old English siw(i)an, siowan; cognate with Old High German siuwan, Old Norse sauma, Gothic siujan; akin to Sanskrit sī́vyati “(he) sews,” Latin suere; see also seam

Origin of sew²

First recorded in 1580–90; from Middle French sewer, shortening of essewer, from unattested Vulgar Latin exaquāre, equivalent to Latin ex- “out of, from, thoroughly” + verb derivative of aqua “water”; see also sewer ¹

Explanation

Sew describes stitching something together. If you sew up the holes in your socks, you use thread and a needle to close them. The word sew comes from the Old English word siwian, to stitch. You can sew a patch on a pair of jeans, sew a dress, or sew up a hole in your grandmother's old quilt. A figurative meaning of sew, as in the phrase to sew something up, is to secure something or bring it to a happy conclusion, like sewing up the plot in the last chapter of a book. Don't confuse sew with sow, to plant or set in motion.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sew sewed sewing sewn

But regardless, he said, Democrats would have to find a way to "sew these two very large groups back together" if they wanted to reverse recent election losses.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

We have a big couch, and I sew while Jake watches movies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Others simply mocked the assertion that a new ballroom would sew up the president’s apparent security concerns.

From Salon ● May 1, 2026

The center funded converting a judiciary building in Sweida into a displacement center housing 130 families, complete with a workshop where women could sew clothing, including uniforms for Druze militias.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2025

Hands that would inherit a successful business, one that sold clothing, and yet did not even know how to sew.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

“My father built a cabin and gardened; we raised chickens and sheep. My mother was a schoolteacher who sewed all my clothes and dolls.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

She’d hired a local BBQ judge who emptied out a hog, stuffed it with pulled pork and sewed it back together.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

Ireland sewed up the play-off place in the group thanks to Troy Parrott's 96th-minute hat-trick goal handing them a 3-2 win over third-placed Hungary.

From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025

While the girls sewed, a nun read aloud so that no-one talked.

From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2025

“I’m too tired to go this afternoon,” replied Meg, rocking comfortably as she sewed.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Begum, who did not give her first name, told AFP she had been turned away by many factories in Gazipur despite having experience in sewing and hemming.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

It features the base of an old sewing machine pasted over with a cigar box wrapper and the oft-reoccurring theme of a moon, sun and stars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

For the tourists' benefit, Vlkolinec puts on traditional craft demonstrations, from sewing folk costumes and gingerbread decorating to mowing and haymaking.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

Student, Emma Harrow, borrowed a sewing machine to teach herself to make alterations to clothes.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

“But I’m gonna need a sewing machine. I can get one secondhand down on Duval for twenty-five dollars,” she said, and looked at me.

From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm

“I’ve never sewn a jacket in my life,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

The dresses have been sewn, the jewellery has been polished and New York's hairdressers and make-up artists have been fully booked ahead of the Met Gala 2026.

From BBC ● May 3, 2026

All of this ambiguity is intentional, sewn into the script with as much care as Sam stitches her dresses.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026

The new shares will be issued via an accelerated bookbuild to select investors, and should be sewn up this week, Zurich said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026

I hid them in a pouch I had sewn in the folds of my robe.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Related Words

• embroider
• fasten
• stitch
• tailor