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
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(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)
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(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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Native American History - Middle School and High School
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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:
In the final scene, after Paul’s death, all seven characters weave the opera’s musical themes together with Maclean’s lyrical words: “Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
His widow joined a weaving collective of genocide survivors, working long hours on a back-strap loom to weave the beautiful, intricate geometric designs that Ixil women are famous for.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026
Victoria Segal wrote that the Ian Broudie-produced record was full of "stylistically playful songs" - like One Eye Open and Favourite Kind of Idiot - which "weave through the personal and political".
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
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
There’s not enough junk to stop us, just to keep us on edge as we weave a serpentine path around it all.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
He says the book uses ginger hair as "a golden thread" that weaves together America's diverse and difficult history in a way which shows a connection between people.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
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 across the road in figure eights, then around me in circles, then rides beside me again.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
Chatfield weaved seamlessly through different social movements in California throughout his life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 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
Back in India, the naan weaved its way into colonial cuisine, as it began being paired with cured meats or sauces infused with local spices.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
JonPaul bobbed and weaved through the crowded hall, unaware that he had ruined my great moment with Tina.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
He was one of the few who wove what was happening in the country into his material.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
At a recent performance of his Valiant symphony in Chennai, he explained how he wove Schubert's Unfinished Symphony into Idhayam Pogudhey, a song from the 1979 Tamil film Puthiya Vaarpukkal.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
He even developed a passion for reading: His last show, “Shelf Life,” wove in dozens of book recommendations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 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
She wove through the crowd, sprinted down streets, leaped across intersections.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
Then come the chips: hot, sturdy, generously salted, piled into black woven baskets alongside ramekins of fire-engine-red mild salsa and a darker, spicier version flecked with onion and jalapeño.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
The data collected by satellites of all kinds is increasingly woven into everyday life.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
China also remains deeply woven into Apple’s manufacturing network, even as the company shifts more production to countries including India and Vietnam.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
His speeches are woven through with references to "God, country, family and freedom."
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
He noted the multicolored banners folded in woven baskets, to be shared with the rest of the populace in two months.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Maryam sat weaving a hat to sell so she could buy food for the day.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
The sequence started with Seattle’s Peter Kingston, another second-half substitute, weaving through traffic on a long run up the right wing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
The prosthesis helped him return to weaving, but that was not his only source of income.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
I frequently struggle to find the right words to describe the elements weaving together the concrete and the conceptual, so I find it simpler to sum up all that as magic.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
“There’s nothing so strange about weaving, but beyond that I can’t make any sense of what you say.”
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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.
