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
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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
The smell of rubbish hangs heavy in the air as pickup trucks and handcarts crawl through narrow alleyways, unloading the day's collections while children weave between them chasing footballs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
They select complementary textual threads from vast data warehouses and weave them together to create tapestries of prose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
“If you lead us to this most spectacular outhouse, my family and I promise to weave your sash.”
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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
“And linguistically I just thought, ‘This is an acrobat,’ the way that Julián writes and weaves these two languages.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
The lights go down and the orchestra weaves between the steady thump of his beats and vivid melodies, as shadow-like projections are beamed onto a huge circular curtain draped above him.
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
And each night Scheherazade weaves the tales together so that they always end on a cliffhanger.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
That moment looked to be pivotal as Ash Handley's outrageous offload reached Miller who weaved and then found Croft on his inside to dot down a terrific Leeds score under the posts.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 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
To pass the time, they weaved bracelets and rings out of plastic bags and talked about their homeland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
As she weaved her way to him, the last peach was picked from the tree and the leaves and branches began to disappear.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
He was one of the few who wove what was happening in the country into his material.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
He wove stories and theories out of raw data and observation while remaining, at core, an economist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Directors Raja Feather Kelly and Zack Winokur wove the scenes together with a choreographic sensibility that defined moments in time as well as its inexorable passage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 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
But anyway, I just wove another mug rug until she said, “He wanted to marry me, you know.”
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
The harsh realities of war are woven into the textures of everyday life, warping and fraying into something absurd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Reflecting on my childhood, I can see creativity woven into my family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
But I have somehow assembled enough glittering people and enough secondhand objects — a woven rug, cushions, low tables, an impossible number of candles — that it feels like a tiny seventh-floor pop-up restaurant.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
But they are woven into the broader fabric of the film to mostly engaging effect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Her blonde hair is woven into a French braid and she’s shoving gold studs into her ears.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
The clouds decided to cluster above and surprise me midtrip, releasing the rain down hard as I finished the journey, weaving as strategically as possible to avoid getting splashed by the cars next to me.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
Dr. Snyder began by weaving together evidentiary strands collected by other investigators in the 1950s and ’60s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 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
As a seamstress, Betty spent much of her time spinning thread, weaving cloth, and tailoring clothes for the Washington family.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
