stitch

[stich] /stɪtʃ/
noun
1.
one complete movement of a threaded needle through a fabric or material such as to leave behind it a single loop or portion of thread, as in sewing, embroidery, or the surgical closing of wounds.
2.
a loop or portion of thread disposed in place by one such movement in sewing:
to rip out stitches.
3.
a particular mode of disposing the thread in sewing or the style of work produced by one such method.
4.
one complete movement of the needle or other implement used in knitting, crocheting, netting, tatting, etc.
5.
the portion of work produced.
6.
a thread, bit, or piece of any fabric or of clothing:
to remove every stitch of clothes.
7.
the least bit of anything:
He wouldn't do a stitch of work.
8.
a sudden, sharp pain, especially in the intercostal muscles:
a stitch in the side.
verb (used with object)
9.
to work upon, join, mend, or fasten with or as if with stitches; sew (often followed by together):
to stitch together flour sacks to make curtains; a plan that was barely stitched together.
10.
to ornament or embellish with stitches:
to stitch a shirt with a monogram.
verb (used without object)
11.
to make stitches, join together, or sew.
Idioms
12.
in stitches, convulsed with laughter:
The comedian had us in stitches all evening.
Origin
before 900; (noun) Middle English stiche, Old English stice a thrust, stab; cognate with German Stich prick; akin to stick2; (v.) Middle English stichen to stab, pierce, derivative of the noun
Related forms
stitcher, noun
stitchlike, adjective
restitch, verb (used with object)
unstitch, verb
unstitched, adjective
well-stitched, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for stitch

stitch

/stɪtʃ/
noun
1.
a link made by drawing a thread through material by means of a needle
2.
a loop of yarn formed around an implement used in knitting, crocheting, etc
3.
a particular method of stitching or shape of stitch
4.
a sharp spasmodic pain in the side resulting from running or exercising
5.
(usually used with a negative) (informal) the least fragment of clothing: he wasn't wearing a stitch
6.
(agriculture) the ridge between two furrows
7.
drop a stitch, to allow a loop of wool to fall off a knitting needle accidentally while knitting
8.
(informal) in stitches, laughing uncontrollably
verb
9.
(transitive) to sew, fasten, etc, with stitches
10.
(intransitive) to be engaged in sewing
11.
(transitive) to bind together (the leaves of a book, pamphlet, etc) with wire staples or thread
noun, verb
12.
an informal word for suture (sense 1b), suture (sense 6)
See also stitch up
Derived Forms
stitcher, noun
Word Origin
Old English stice sting; related to Old Frisian steke, Old High German stih, Gothic stiks, Old Norse tikta sharp
Word Origin and History for stitch
n.

Old English stice "a prick, puncture," from Proto-Germanic *stikiz, from the root of stick (v.). The sense of "sudden, stabbing pain in the side" was in late Old English. Senses in sewing and shoemaking first recorded late 13c.; meaning "bit of clothing one is (or isn't) wearing" is from c.1500. Meaning "a stroke of work" (of any kind) is attested from 1580s. Surgical sense first recorded 1520s. Sense of "amusing person or thing" is 1968, from notion of laughing so much one gets stitches of pain (cf. verbal expression to have (someone) in stitches, 1935).

v.

early 13c., "to stab, pierce," also "to fasten or adorn with stitches;" see stitch (n.). Related: Stitched; stitching.

stitch in Medicine

stitch (stĭch)
n.

  1. A sudden sharp pain, especially in the side.

  2. A single suture.

v. stitched, stitch·ing, stitch·es
To suture.
Idioms and Phrases with stitch

stitch

In addition to the idiom beginning with
stitch
also see: