English
stitch
Pronunciation Etymology 1

From Middle English stiche, from Old English stiċe, from Proto-West Germanic *stiki, from Proto-Germanic *stikiz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg-.

Cognate with Dutch steek, German Stich, Old English stician. More at stick.

Noun

stitch (plural stitches)

  1. A single pass of a needle in sewing; the loop or turn of the thread thus made.
  2. An arrangement of stitches in sewing, or method of stitching in some particular way or style.
    cross stitch
    herringbone stitch
  3. (countable and uncountable) An intense stabbing pain under the lower edge of the ribcage, brought on by exercise or laughing.
    I've got a stitch. I'm going to have to stop and rest.
    After about fifteen minutes I got terrible stitch.
  4. A local sharp pain (anywhere); an acute pain, like the piercing of a needle.
    a stitch in the side
    • 1724, [Gilbert] Burnet, “Book III. Of the Rest of King Charles II’s Reign, from the Year 1673 to the Year 1685, in which He Died.”, in [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], editor, Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume I, London: […] Thomas Ward […], →OCLC ↗, page 588 ↗:
      He was the next day taken with an oppreſſion, and as it ſeemed with a cold and with ſtitches, which was indeed a pluriſy.
    • 1848, Gottlieb Heinrich Georg Jahr, New Manual; Or, Symptomen-codex, page 186 (1846, Samuel Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura, page 73):
      Violent continuous stitch in the region of the heart, the stitches multiplied when arresting the breathing. […] Feeling of heaviness in the muscles of the neck; he is obliged to bend his neck backwards. Cramp-like pain in right muscles of the neck, terminating in a stitch; the pain went off after motion and returned afterwards. […] Dull stitches in the region of the haunch-bones; pressure on the parts causes a simple pain. […] Drawing stitch in the right thigh, not perceptible when standing or ascending an elevation.
    • 1878, Timothy Field Allen, The Encyclopedia of pure materia medica v. 8, 1878, page 291:
      A sharp stitch in the left side of the head, on sitting down […] A sharp stitch in the upper part of the right side of the head, […]
  5. A single turn of the thread round a needle in knitting; a link, or loop, of yarn
    drop a stitch
    take up a stitch
  6. An arrangement of stitches in knitting, or method of knitting in some particular way or style.
  7. A space of work taken up, or gone over, in a single pass of the needle.
  8. A fastening, as of thread or wire, through the back of a book to connect the pages.
  9. (by extension) Any space passed over; distance.
    • 1684, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress. From This World to That which is to Come: The Second Part. […], London: […] Nathaniel Ponder […], →OCLC ↗; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress as Originally Published by John Bunyan: Being a Fac-simile Reproduction of the First Edition, London: Elliot Stock […], 1875, →OCLC ↗, page 148 ↗:
      [Y]ou have gone a good ſtitch, you may well be a weary; ſit down.
  10. (obsolete) A contortion, or twist.
    • 1609–1612, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Captaine”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC ↗, Act II, scene ii, page 54 ↗, column 2:
      If you talke / Or pull your face into a ſtich againe, / As I love truth I ſhall be very angry.
  11. (colloquial) Any least part of a fabric or clothing.
    to wet every stitch of clothes
    She didn’t have a stitch on.
  12. (obsolete) A furrow.
  13. The space between two double furrows.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: Strickmuster
  • Portuguese: ponto
Translations Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English sticchen, stichen, from Old English *stiċċan, stiċċian, from Proto-Germanic *stikjaną, influenced by the noun (see above).

Verb

stitch (stitches, present participle stitching; simple past and past participle stitched)

  1. To form stitches in; especially, to sew in such a manner as to show on the surface a continuous line of stitches.
    to stitch a shirt bosom.
  2. To sew, or unite or attach by stitches.
    to stitch printed sheets in making a book or a pamphlet.
  3. (intransitive) To practice/practise stitching or needlework.
  4. (agriculture) To form land into ridges.
  5. To weld together through a series of connecting or overlapping spot welds.
  6. To include, combine, or unite into a single whole.
    1. (computer graphics) To combine two or more photographs of the same scene into a single image.
      I can use this software to stitch together a panorama.
    2. (TikTok) To incorporate (an existing video) into a new one, resulting in a collaborative clip that shows the two videos in a sequence.
Synonyms

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