Sew

Definition: Sew

Sew

Verb

1. Fasten by sewing; do needlework.

2. Create (clothes) with cloth; "Can the seamstress sew me a suit by next week?".

Date "sew" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references)

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
Entry	Source	Expression	Field
SEW	English	Segregated early weaning	Biology & Biotechnology
SEW	French	Sevrage précoce avec ségrégation	Biology & Biotechnology
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Synonyms: Sew

Synonyms: run up (v), sew together (v), stitch (v), tailor (v), tailor-make (v). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Junction	Attach, fix, affix, saddle on, fasten, bind, secure, clinch, twist, make fast; Adjective: tie, pinion, string, strap, sew, lace, tat, tack, knit, button, buckle, hitch, lash, truss, bandage, braid, splice, swathe, gird, tether, moor, picket, harness, chain; fetter; (restrain); lock, latch, belay, brace, hook, grapple, leash, couple, accouple, link, yoke, bracket; marry; (wed); bridge over, span.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Sew

English words defined with "sew": applique ♦ baste ♦ Catstitch, Creaser ♦ Enseam ♦ fell, finedraw ♦ gather ♦ hem, hemstitch ♦ overcast, oversew ♦ packing needle, packthread, patchwork, patchwork quilt, pucker ♦ quilt ♦ resew, retick ♦ seel, Steik ♦ tailor, Tailor bird, tailor-make, tick, tuck. (references)

Specialty definitions using "sew": Sew the Button on. (references)

Etymologies containing "sew": Trachelorrhaphy. (references)

Non-English Usage: "Sew" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses.

Welsh (delicacy, juice, pottage).

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Maybe we could hold the trial there. I'll sew the costumes and maybe Uncle Goober can be the judge (A Few Good Men; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin) You sew very badly (The English Patient; writing credit: Anthony Minghella) I want you to sew my eyebrow back on. (Miami Blues; writing credit: George Armitage) You'd have to sew 'em back on first (Fawlty Towers; writing credit: John Cleese; Connie Booth) They'll rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skin to their clothes (Firefly; writing credit: John Sullivan)
Lyrics	Sew When The (Black or White; performing artist: Michael Jackson; writing credit: Michael Jackson) A time to rend, a time to sew ("Turn Turn Turn"; performing artist: The Byrds) To sew up the gash (The Masochism Tango; performing artist: Tom Lehrer)
Tongue Twisters	Shy Shelly says she shall sew sheets. (references; author: unknown)
Movie/TV Titles	Three Little Sew and Sews (1939) So and Sew (1936)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Curtains for Beginners (Seams Sew Easy) (reference) Fit for Real People: Sew Great Clothes Using Any Pattern! (reference) Quilting for Beginners (Seams Sew Easy) (reference) Sew Fast Sew Easy: All You Need to Know When You Start to Sew (reference) Sew the Storybook Wardrobe for 18-Inch Dolls (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Sew Beautiful (reference) (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies	You Can Make It - Learn to Sew - Level 6 (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music	Sew True (reference) Sew Your Wings On (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Consumer Goods	Singer HC22 Sew Essentials Storage System (reference) (more baby examples; more wireless phone examples; more garden examples; more kitchen examples; more tool examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Girl teaching children to sew. Credit: Library of Congress.		Production. Parachute making. These women sew yards of silk together into flare parachutes, a task which requires just as much care and skill as does working on parachutes that will bear men. Pioneer Parachute Company, Manchester, Connecticut. Credit: Library of Congress.
	East Montpelier, Vermont. Marilyn, daughter of Charles Ormsbee, is president of her 4-H club, the Montpelier Center Girls, where she learns how to sew and cook economically and well. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Title	Author	Quote
Grapes of Wrath	Steinbeck, John	Sew up the open end.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Sew" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 52.50% of the time. "Sew" is used about 200 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Lexical Verb (infinitive)	52.5%	105	31,781
Lexical Verb (base form)	46%	92	34,282
Noun (singular)	1%	2	245,945
Noun (proper)	0.5%	1	339,140
Total	100.00%	200	N/A

Expressions using "sew": sew again ♦ sew in ♦ sew on ♦ sew onto ♦ sew together ♦ sew up. Additional references.
Hyphenated Usage
	Beginning with "sew": Sew-along-with-nancy, sew-in, sew-on, sew-one, sew-sew.
	Ending with "sew": sew-sew.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "sew"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Afrikaans		naaldwerk doen. (various references)

Albanian		zë me pe (darn, needle), qep (dry up, hold one's tongue, ligature, needle, seam, sew on, stitch, tab, tailor). (various references)

Arabic		‏مارس الخياطة, ‏خاط جرحا, ‏خاط الجرح (stitch), ‏خاط (stitch, suture, tailor), ‏رقع (botch, cobble, patch, piece, repair), ‏رتق (darn, mend, stitch), ‏درز (seam, stitch, stitching, vortex). (various references)

Aymara		ch'ucuña (to sew). (various references)

Basque		josi (sew to). (various references)

Blackfoot		wai'tsinnaki (to sew). (various references)

Bulgarian		ушивам (make up, work), шия (cervix, neck, needle, stitch, throat). (various references)

Catalan		cosir. (various references)

Chinese		缝合 (seamed, Seaming, sewed, sewing, sewn, suture, Sutured, suturing), 緄 (cord, embroidered sash), 縫紉 , 敹 (keep tidy and repaired). (various references)

Czech		ušít (tailor), přišít (sew on), šít (make, stitch). (various references)

Danish		sy (Syria, Syrian Arab Republic). (various references)

Dutch		vastnaaien (sew on), aanzetten (abet, activate, attach, fan, fire, fur, inspire, put on, put onto, sew on, sharpen, start, stimulate, stir up, switch on, swotch on, turn on, urge), aannaaien (sew on). (various references)

Esperanto		kudri, alkudri (sew on). (various references)

Faeroese		seyma. (various references)

Farsi		خیاطی کردن , دوزندگی کردن (Tailor), دوختن (Bind, Steek, Suture). (various references)

Finnish		ommella (do needlework, make), nitoa (bind, stitch), neuloa (knit). (various references)

French		coudre (sew on). (various references)

Frisian		nuddelje, naaie. (various references)

German		nähen (make, propinquities, proximities, seam, sewing, sewn, stitch, stitch up, suture, to sew, to sew (sewed, to stitch), vernähen (neaten, sew up, stitch, stitch up, suture, to sew up), heften (baste, basting, clip, crimp, peg up, pin, rivet, sew on, sew together, staple, stitch, tack, tack up). (various references)

Greek		ράβω (needle, stitch). (various references)

Hebrew		לתפור (stitch). (various references)

Hungarian		varr (needle, preen, sewed, sewn, tailor, to needle, to ply the needle, to preen, to sew, to suture). (various references)

Indonesian		menjahit. (various references)

Irish		fuaigh. (various references)

Italian		cucire (needle, stitch). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		縫う (to sew). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		たちぬう (to cut and sew), きずぐち�'ぬう (to sew upa wound), きにたけ�'つぐ (to graft a bamboo shoot on a tree, to sew a fox's skin to the lion's), ぬう (to sew), ぬいつける (to sew on), ぬい�"む (to sew in), ぬいあわせる (to sew up), つける (to add, to affix, to append, to apply, to appraise, to attach, to bring alongside, to dip in, to establish, to fasten, to follow, to furnish, to give, to glue, to join, to keep, to keep a diary, to light up, to load, to make an entry, to moisten, to pickle, to place, to put, to put on, to set, to sew on, to shadow, to soak, to stick, to switch on, to turn on, to wear), かがる (to cross-stitch, to darn, to hemstitch, to sew), はたにち�'つける (to sew loops on a flag). (various references)

Korean		꿰매십시�". (various references)

Manx		whaaley (clincher nail, clinchnail, cobble, seam, stitch, suture), fuailley (stitch). (various references)

Maori		tuitui (to sew). (various references)

Maya		chuy (to sew). (various references)

Mohawk		-e'nikhons (to sew). (various references)

Norwegian		sy. (various references)

Occitan		cordurar, cóser. (various references)

Papago		shohm (to sew). (various references)

Papiamen		kose. (various references)

Pig Latin		ewsay.(various references)

Portuguese		costurar (sew up), coser (needle, run, seam, sew up, stitch). (various references)

Romanian		coase (baste, seam, stitch, work), broşa (bind in paper, stitch). (various references)

Romansch		cuser (to sew). (various references)

Romany		siv� v (to sew). (various references)

Russian		шить (needle, sewed, sewn, sews, stitch, tailor). (various references)

Scottish		fuaigh (connect, knit, stitch). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		sašiti (sew together), zašiti (stitch), ušiti, prošivati (quilt, stitch), prošiti (stitch, thread), šiti. (various references)

Shona		-sona (to sew). (various references)

Sicilian		cusiri (to sew). (various references)

Spanish		coser (backstitch, seam, sew on, sew up, stitch, suture), pegar (affix, attach, beat, beat up on, belt, catch, cement, fasten, give, glue, hang, have, hit, knock about, Lam, live through, paste, paste up, plug, post, pump, put up, roam, sew on, slap, slosh, slug, smack, sock, stick, stick down, stick on, stick together, strike, swipe, tag on, take, thrash, tie on, touch, trounce, welt). (various references)

Sranan		nay. (various references)

Swazi		kú-tfúnga (to sew). (various references)

Swedish		sy (stitch, work). (various references)

Thai		เย็บ (needle, sew up). (various references)

Turkish		dikmek (bed, bed out, construct, crop, engraft, erect, fix, ingraft, lay down, needle, perk, perk up, plant, post, prick, prick up, put stitches in, raise, rear, rest, rest on, rivet, seam, seam together, seam up, set, set out, set up, sew up, sow, stitch up, suture, tailor, Upend), dikiş dikmek. (various references)

Turkmen		tikmek (embroider, hem), gaяmalamak (whirl), зatmak (embroider, tie together). (various references)

Ukrainian		шити (build, needle, stitch, tailor), зшивати (seam), брошурувати (stitch). (various references)

Welsh		gwni%o (stitch). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Date	Source	Matthew Chapter 13, Verse 25
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	En de tw kaqeudein touV anqrwpouV hlqen autou o ecqroV kai espeiren zizania ana meson tou sitou kai aphlqen
Latin	405	Vulgate	Cum autem dormirent homines venit inimicus eius et superseminavit zizania in medio tritici et abiit
Old English	990	West Saxon	Soðlice þa þa men slepen. þa com hysfeonda sum & ofer-seow hit mid coccle onmiddam (sic) þam hwæte & ferden (sic) þanen.
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	But, when men slepten, his enmye came, and sew aboue dernel, `or cokil, in the midil of whete, and wente awey.
Renaissance English	1526	Tyndale	But whyll men slepte ther came his foo and sowed tares amoge ye wheate and wet his waye.
Jacobean English	1611	King James	But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and departed.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	But while men were sleeping, one who had hate for him came and put evil seeds among the grain, and went away.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Matthew Chapter 13, Verse 25
Cebuano	apan samtang nanagkatulog ang mga tawo, ang iyang kaaway miadto ug ang mga trigo gisaburan niyag mga liso sa bunglayon, ug unya mipahawa siya.
Croatian	Dok su njegovi ljudi spavali, doðe njegov neprijatelj, posije posred žita kukolj i ode.
Danish	Men medens Folkene sov, kom hans Fjende og såede Ugræs iblandt Hveden og gik bort.
Dutch	En als de mensen sliepen, kwam zijn vijand, en zaaide onkruid midden in de tarwe, en ging weg.
Finnish	Mutta ihmisten nukkuessa hänen vihamiehensä tuli ja kylvi lustetta nisun sekaan ja meni pois.
French	Mais, pendant que les gens dormaient, son ennemi vint, sema de l`ivraie parmi le blé, et s`en alla.
German	Da aber die Leute schliefen, kam sein Feind und säte Unkraut zwischen den Weizen und ging davon.
Hungarian	De mikor az emberek alusznak vala, eljöve az õ ellensége és konkolyt vete a búza közé, és elméne.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	Pada suatu malam, ketika semua orang sedang tidur, musuh petani itu datang menabur benih alang-alang di antara gandum itu, lalu pergi.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	maka sedang orang tidur, datanglah seterunya menabur pula benih lalang di dalam gandum itu, lalu ia pergi.
Manx Gaelic	Agh choud as va sleih nyn gadley haink e noid, as chuirr eh coggyl mastey y churnaght, as jimmee eh roish.
Maori	A, i nga tangata e moe ana, ka haere mai tona hoariri, ruia iho he taru kino ki waenga witi, a haere ana.
Norwegian	men mens folkene sov, kom hans fiende og sådde ugress blandt hveten, og gikk så bort.
Portuguese	mas, enquanto os homens dormiam, veio o inimigo dele, semeou joio no meio do trigo, e retirou-se.
Rumanian	Dar, pe cknd dormeau oamenii, a venit vrqjmawul lui, a sqmqnat neghinq kntre grku, wi a plecat.
Russian	ЛПЗ�"Б ЦЕ МА�"Й У� БМЙ, � ТЙЫЕМ ЧТБЗ ЕЗП Й � ПУЕСМ НЕЦ�"Х � ЫЕОЙ�"ЕА � МЕЧЕМЩ Й ХЫЕМ;
Shuar	Tura Ashí kanararmatai nemasri kashi taa trikiu arakmanum yajauch nupan aratak ikiukmiai.
Swahili	Lakini watu wakiwa wamelala, adui yake akaja akapanda magugu kati ya ngano, akaenda zake.
Swedish	men när folket sov, kom hans ovän och sådde ogräs mitt ibland vetet och gick sedan sin väg.
Uma	Rala-na hamengi bula tauna leta', rata bali' -na topobonea toei, mpohawui' bonea toe hante wua' kowo' to neo' hibalia pae poraui-na, pai' -i malai.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "sew": sewabilities, sewability, sewable, sewage, sewages, sewan, sewans, sewar, sewars, sewed, sewer, sewerage, sewerages, sewered, sewering, sewers, sewing, sewings, sewn, sews. (additional references)
	Words ending with "sew": oversew, resew, unsew. (additional references)
	Words containing "sew": casework, caseworker, caseworkers, caseworks, caseworm, caseworms, causeway, causewayed, causewaying, causeways, courseware, coursewares, elsewhere, falsework, falseworks, greasewood, greasewoods, handsewn, horseweed, horseweeds, horsewhip, horsewhipped, horsewhipper, horsewhippers, horsewhipping, horsewhips, horsewoman, horsewomen, housewares, housewarming, housewarmings, housewife, housewifeliness, housewifelinesses, housewifely, housewiferies, housewifery, housewifey, housewives, housework, houseworks, lousewort, louseworts, nosewheel, nosewheels, oversewed, oversewing, oversewn, oversews, pesewa, pesewas. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Sew" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aeuw, cwe, Esj, esv, Eswa, Eswi, Eswl, eww, saew, sbew, scew, sdew, seb, seew, sef, sei, seiw, Seiwa, sej, sek, seo, seow, sev, Sewa, Sewcz, sewi, sez, sfew, sgew, siew, siw, slw, smew, snw, soew, souw, spw, sqew, sqw, ssew, suew, svew, swea, sweb, swec, sweg, swei, swek, swer, swes, swew, swey, swx, sxew, syw, szew, zeaw, zeew, zeq, zew, zewt, ziw. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "sew" (pronounced sō")
2	s ō"	so, sow.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "e-s-w"
	-1 letter: es, we.
	Words containing the letters "e-s-w"
	+1 letter: awes, dews, ewes, hews, jews, mews, news, owes, owse, pews, sewn, sews, shew, skew, slew, smew, spew, stew, tews, waes, webs, weds, wees, wens, west, wets, wise, woes, wyes, yews.
	+2 letters: askew, bowse, brews, chews, clews, crews, dowse, enows, ewers, flews, hawse, howes, lewis, lowes, lowse, lweis, meows, mewls, newsy, newts, owsen, plews, resaw, resew, resow, sawed, sawer, screw, serow, sewan, sewar, sewed, sewer, shewn, shews, shrew, sinew, skews, slews, smews, sowed, sower, spews, stews, strew, swage, swale, sware, swear, sweat, swede, sweep, sweer, sweet, swell, swept, swine, swipe, swive, swore, tawse, thews, trews, twaes, unsew, views, wades, wages, wakes, wales, wames, wanes, wares, waste, waves, waxes, weals, weans, wears, weeds, weeks, weens, weeps, weest, weets, wefts, weirs, wekas, welds, wells, welsh, welts, wends, wests, whens, whets, whews, wheys, whose, wides, wifes, wiles, wines, wipes, wires, wised, wiser, wises, wites, wives, wizes, worse, wrens, wrest, wries, wyles, wytes, yowes.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
sew	405	camp sew on label	24
sew eurodrive	128	home sew	24
learn sew	91	sew machine	24
sew on patch	72	sew beautiful	21
no sew curtain	60	pattern to sew	21
sew easy	48	sew perfect	16
sew news	47	sew purse	16
sew curtain	46	no sew pillow	15
sew a button	45	stretch and sew pattern	15
kwik sew	43	roman sew shades	14
sew vac	42	sew in label	14
no sew window treatment	42	sew on label	14
learning how to sew	35	in sew weave	14
blanket fleece no sew	33	easy pattern sew	13
blanket no sew	32	sew a dress	13
2002 mr mrs sew vac	31	sew news magazine	13
kwik sew pattern	31	sew a duvet cover	12
sew slip cover	31	more much sew	12
sew pillow	28	free pattern sew	11
stretch and sew	28	mr mrs sew vac	11
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Sew

Definition: Sew

Sew

Verb

Abbreviations & Acronyms: Sew

SEW

SEW

Synonyms: Sew

Synonyms within Context: Sew

Junction

Crosswords: Sew

Modern Usage: Sew

Screenplays

Lyrics

Tongue Twisters

Movie/TV Titles

Commercial Usage: Sew

Books

Periodicals

Theater & Movies

Music

Consumer Goods

Image Slideshow: Sew

Illustrations:Sew

Computer Images:Sew

Photo Album: Sew

Use in Literature: Sew

Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

Usage Frequency: Sew

Expression: Sew

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Sew

Modern Translation: Sew

Afrikaans

Albanian

Arabic

Aymara

Basque

Blackfoot

Bulgarian

Catalan

Chinese

Czech

Danish

Dutch

Esperanto

Faeroese

Farsi

Finnish

French

Frisian

German

Greek

Hebrew

Hungarian

Indonesian

Irish

Italian

Japanese Kanji

Japanese Katakana

Korean

Manx

Maori

Maya

Mohawk

Norwegian

Occitan

Papago

Papiamen

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Romanian

Romansch

Romany

Russian

Scottish

Serbo-Croatian

Shona

Sicilian

Spanish

Illustrations:
Sew

Computer Images:
Sew