weave
Americanverb (used with object)
-
weaves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
weaved,
past participle, past
-
wove,
past
-
woven,
past participle
-
weaving
present participle
-
to interlace (threads, yarns, strips, fibrous material, etc.) so as to form a fabric or material.
-
to form by interlacing threads, yarns, strands, or strips of some material.
to weave a basket; to weave cloth.
-
to form by combining various elements or details into a connected whole.
to weave a tale; to weave a plan.
-
to introduce as an element or detail into a connected whole (usually followed by in orinto ).
She wove an old folk melody into her latest musical composition.
- Synonyms:
- intermingle, intermix, insert
-
to direct or move along in a winding or zigzag course; move from side to side, especially to avoid obstructions.
to weave one's way through traffic.
verb (used without object)
-
weaves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
weaved,
past participle, past
-
wove,
past
-
woven,
past participle
-
weaving
present participle
-
to form or construct something, as fabric, by interlacing threads, yarns, strips, etc.
-
to compose a connected whole by combining various elements or details.
-
to be or become formed or composed from the interlacing of materials or the combining of various elements.
The yarn wove into a beautiful fabric.
-
to move or proceed in a winding course or from side to side.
dancers weaving in time to the music.
verb
-
to form (a fabric) by interlacing (yarn, etc), esp on a loom
-
(tr) to make or construct by such a process
to weave a shawl
-
(tr) to make or construct (an artefact, such as a basket) by interlacing (a pliable material, such as cane)
-
(of a spider) to make (a web)
-
(tr) to construct by combining separate elements into a whole
-
(tr; often foll by in, into, through, etc) to introduce
to weave factual details into a fiction
-
to create (a way, etc) by moving from side to side
to weave through a crowd
-
(intr) () vet science (of a stabled horse) to swing the head, neck, and body backwards and forwards
-
informal to hurry; start to do something
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
weavesimple
-
weavessimple
-
have weavedperfect
-
have wovenperfect
-
has weavedperfect
-
has wovenperfect
-
am weavingprogressive
-
are weavingprogressive
-
is weavingprogressive
-
have been weavingperfect progressive
-
has been weavingperfect progressive
Past
-
weavedsimple
-
wovesimple
-
had weavedperfect
-
had wovenperfect
-
was weavingprogressive
-
were weavingprogressive
-
had been weavingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of weave
before 900; Middle English weven, Old English wefan; cognate with German weben, Old Norse vefa; see web
Explanation
Weaving involves lacing strips of fabric, string, or some other material together to make something. You can weave wool to make a rug, or weave the details of a story together to make a great book. While weave originally only meant to make cloth by interlacing material, it later came to also mean more generally “combine into a whole.” Think of a spider and how it weaves its web, or of how some songs expertly weave in unexpected elements, like the sound of a siren or the waves crashing. You can also use weave to describe a swaying motion, like that of a car darting through traffic when it’s trying to move ahead.
Vocabulary lists containing weave
Native American History - Introductory
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Native American History - Middle School and High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
Board members asked if residual ammonia could be leaking from the open pipes that weave throughout the building.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Cotton and linen are often comfortable because they absorb moisture and allow air movement, although fabric weave, thickness and moisture handling also matter.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
As activists gather beneath tarpaulin sheets in New Delhi, often holding all-night political debates, singing or reciting poetry, delivery drivers from online platforms weave through the barricades.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Robotaxis weave through traffic alongside ordinary cars, while autonomous delivery vans glide along the inside lane as they carry packages to collection points.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
We can weave common myths such as the biblical creation story, the Dreamtime myths of Aboriginal Australians, and the nationalist myths of modern states.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Pondering these points of analysis, the preface weaves in studio photographs, Kodak snaps and paintings by Jan van Eyck, Bronzino and Titian.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
That would break the spell Miyazaki weaves in every frame leading up to that moment.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Elon Green weaves the mystery’s disparate threads into a single, unforgettable narrative.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
He weaves the stories together with musicians from perennially imperiled New Orleans performing for his interviewees at a “welcome table” on a levee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
“She weaves and spins thread,” the boy said.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
Linda Cantey had the sound of her mobile turned off the night the Atlas Wildfire weaved a path of destruction through her section of Napa, California.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
Governments are so in awe of the tales weaved by tech bros about the coming artificial-intelligence future, she says, that they have given them a free pass to do pretty much whatever they want.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
“Before the incident, students routinely weaved through multiple lanes of traffic to access parked cars or to make their way to parents picking them up,” the suit reads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
He weaved down the straight on lap 23, but Norris committed for the inside, and kept this foot hard down even as he was edged slightly off track.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2025
Poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Mrs. O’Leary weaved around the serpents head, scratching and biting.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
He was one of the few who wove what was happening in the country into his material.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
After just four overs from the quicks, the spinners took centre stage and wove a web around the Sri Lankan batters, much as they had throughout the tour.
From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026
The idea of craft is, to her, “like regarding a vast tapestry and saying, This is how I wove the blue part.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
Perez did what she knew how: wove her pain and anger and devastation into music, writing the soul-stirring tribute, “Celene.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2025
Ida wove the fabric on her loom and then cut and sewed it: brown and blue woolen pants and two shirts.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
But they are woven into the broader fabric of the film to mostly engaging effect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
You truly were the matriarch of our family, and your love is woven into all of us.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
For now, the humble paper check remains too deeply woven into the fabric of American life to truly rest in peace — even if writing one means playing a riskier game with swindlers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
He briefly considers a bizarre woven tapestry featuring his brothers’ faces rendered in fabric before settling on a blue, crinkly tarp.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
His armored skirt was made from thousands of blackened, twisted bones, woven together like chain links and clasped in place by a belt of interlocking monstrous arms.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
“Invitation” is an achievement in dance for cinema, freed from the spatial and temporal limits of live performance, weaving stories without dialogue, lyrics, or narration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Together, they form a rich yet incomplete portrait of an existence cut short, which McElwee hopes to broaden by weaving in meaning from before and after Adrian’s life, all captured by McElwee’s omnipresent camera.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
In the group stages, Kerim Alajbegovic's goal for Bosnia-Herzegovina against Qatar was a superb solo effort - a weaving run before a rising right-foot shot of high class.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
A 13-minute music video weaving together six tracks from the new album was released earlier this month and featured A-list cameos by Sabrina Carpenter, Kate Moss, Lourdes Leon, Benedict Cumberbatch and more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
When I’d asked about all the rock fences weaving drunkenly along others’ fields, Perilee had provided an answer straight from the Bible.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
