patchwork

[pach-wurk] /ˈpætʃˌwɜrk/
noun
1.
something made up of an incongruous variety of pieces or parts; hodgepodge:
a patchwork of verse forms.
2.
work made of pieces of cloth or leather of various colors or shapes sewed together, used especially for covering quilts, cushions, etc.
adjective
3.
resembling a patchwork, especially in being makeshift, irregular, or improvised:
a patchwork policy of dispensing foreign aid.
verb (used with object)
4.
to make as patchwork:
She specializes in patchworking skirts.
5.
to assemble or connect in making patchwork:
to patchwork neckties into bedspreads.
Origin
1685-95; patch1 + work
Related forms
patchworky, adjective
Synonyms
1. medley, jumble, mélange.
Examples from the web for patchwork
  • Our pledge was not merely to do a patchwork job with secondhand materials.
  • But a continent which was already a patchwork of principalities became in some places a patchwork of calendars.
  • Ethnic or group differences give way to a homogenized patchwork of unbridled individual variety.
  • Regulatory oversight was a confusing patchwork, full of holes.
  • In general the admissions-testing situation was a patchwork.
  • What has been a patchwork of green buildings in many cities is expanding to whole communities, whole neighborhoods.
  • But don't overlook the city's patchwork of neighborhoods.
  • We have a patchwork of preschools, many with weakly trained, poorly paid staff.
  • Most live in patchwork shacks of plywood and corrugated steel.
  • That's because there's a vast patchwork of grants, scholarships and loans available.
British Dictionary definitions for patchwork

patchwork

/ˈpætʃˌwɜːk/
noun
1.
needlework done by sewing pieces of different materials together
2.
something, such as a theory, made up of various parts: a patchwork of cribbed ideas
Word Origin and History for patchwork
n.

"work composed of patches," 1690s, from patch (n.1) + work (n.). As an adjective from 1713.

Encyclopedia Article for patchwork

the process of joining strips, squares, triangles, hexagons, or other shaped pieces of fabric (also called patches), by either hand or machine stitching, into square blocks or other units. It is one of the primary construction techniques of quilting and is often combined with applique. In constructing the quilt top the pieced blocks may be stitched together, alternated with blocks cut from a single fabric, or separated by long strips of fabric known as sashing. The blocks may be arranged in a wide variety of settings, including rotated 90 degrees "on point." Pieced or plain border strips are often added to complete the quilt top. In the crazy quilt the patches are of irregular size and shape; like crazy blocks, string-pieced blocks, formed of strips of fabric, are sewn to a fabric or paper foundation

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