sew up
Britishverb
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to fasten or mend completely by sewing
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to acquire sole use or control of
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informal to complete or negotiate successfully
to sew up a deal
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Complete successfully, as in Our team has sewn up the championship . [ Colloquial ; c. 1900]
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Gain complete control of, monopolize, as in Our restaurant hopes to sew up the town's takeout business . [ Colloquial ; first half of 1900s]
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.
Others simply mocked the assertion that a new ballroom would sew up the president’s apparent security concerns.
From Salon • May 1, 2026
Big players aim to sew up longer-term relationships with bundled policies, to be less vulnerable to pure price-shopping.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 8, 2025
Burns can still sew up a talented cast, which likely speaks to the appeal of any project these days with a semblance of recognizable adult humanity bubbling inside.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2025
Ms. Wiles acknowledged her candidate’s comments but cited the various ways her team had tried to sew up the nomination for Mr. Trump as quickly as possible.
From New York Times • Jan. 31, 2024
As soon as I said it, I wished I could sew up my mouth.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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.
