stitch

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

stitch, n. [OE. stiche, AS. stice a pricking, akin to stician to prick. See Stick, v. i.].

•  A single pass of a needle in sewing; the loop or turn of the thread thus made.  [1913 Webster]
•  A single turn of the thread round a needle in knitting; a link, or loop, of yarn; as, to let down, or drop, a stitch; to take up a stitch.  [1913 Webster]
•  A space of work taken up, or gone over, in a single pass of the needle; hence, by extension, any space passed over; distance.  [1913 Webster]

  "You have gone a good stitch."  [1913 Webster]

  "In Syria the husbandmen go lightly over with their plow, and take no deep stitch in making their furrows."  [1913 Webster]
•  A local sharp pain; an acute pain, like the piercing of a needle; as, a stitch in the side.  [1913 Webster]

  "He was taken with a cold and with stitches, which was, indeed, a pleurisy."  [1913 Webster]
•  A contortion, or twist.  [1913 Webster]

  "If you talk,
  Or pull your face into a stitch again,
  I shall be angry."  [1913 Webster]
•  Any least part of a fabric or dress; as, to wet every stitch of clothes.  [1913 Webster]
•  A furrow.  Chapman.  [1913 Webster]
•  An arrangement of stitches, or method of stitching in some particular way or style; as, cross-stitch; herringbone stitch, etc.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Chain stitch, Lock stitch. See in the Vocabulary. -- Pearl stitch, or Purl stitch. See 2nd Purl, 2.

stitch, v. t. 

•  To form stitches in; especially, to sew in such a manner as to show on the surface a continuous line of stitches; as, to stitch a shirt bosom.  [1913 Webster]
•  To sew, or unite together by stitches; as, to stitch printed sheets in making a book or a pamphlet.  [1913 Webster]
•  To form land into ridges.  [1913 Webster]

To stitch up, to mend or unite with a needle and thread; as, to stitch up a rent; to stitch up an artery.

stitch, v. i. 

 To practice stitching, or needlework.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

stitch, n. & v.
--n.
1 a (in sewing or knitting or crocheting etc.) a single pass of a needle or the thread or loop etc. resulting from this. b a particular method of sewing or knitting etc. (am learning a new stitch).
2 (usu. in pl.) Surgery each of the loops of material used in sewing up a wound.
3 the least bit of clothing (hadn't a stitch on).
4 an acute pain in the side of the body induced by running etc.
--v.tr.
1 sew; make stitches (in).
2 join or close with stitches.

Idiom

in stitches colloq. laughing uncontrollably. a stitch in time a timely remedy. stitch up
1 join or mend by sewing or stitching.
2 sl. betray or cheat.

Derivative

stitcher n. stitchery n. stitchless adj.

Etymology

OE stice f. Gmc, rel. to STICK(2)

THESAURUS

stitch

French knot, ache, acute pain, ankle, articulate, articulation, batten, batten down, bit, bite, bolt, boring pain, boundary, buckle, butt, button, cervix, chain stitch, charley horse, chip, chunk, clasp, cleat, clinch, clip, clipping, closure, collop, connecting link, connecting rod, connection, coupling, cramp, cramps, crick, cross-stitch, crumb, cut, cutting, darting pain, dollop, dovetail, elbow, embrace, end, fragment, fulgurant pain, girdle pain, gliding joint, gnawing, gob, gobbet, griping, hasp, hinge, hinged joint, hip, hitch, hook, hunk, interface, jam, join, joining, joint, jumping pain, juncture, kink, knee, knuckle, lancinating pain, latch, link, lock, lump, misery, miter, modicum, moiety, morceau, morsel, mortise, nail, neck, needle, needlepoint, nip, pang, paring, paroxysm, particle, patch, peg, picot, piece, pin, pinch, pivot, pivot joint, prick, rabbet, rasher, rivet, scarf, scoop, scrap, screw, seam, seizure, sew, sew up, shard, sharp pain, shaving, shiver, shoot, shooting, shooting pain, shoulder, shred, skewer, slice, sliver, smithereen, snack, snap, snatch, snick, snip, snippet, spasm, splinter, stab, stabbing pain, staple, stick, stockinette, stump, suture, symphysis, tack, tag, tailor, tatter, thrill, throes, tie rod, toggle, toggle joint, tormen, treble, tweak, twinge, twitch, union, wedge, weld, whipstitch, wrench, wrist, zipper

ROGET THESAURUS

stitch

Junction

N junction, joining, joinder, union connection, conjunction, conjugation, annexion, annexation, annexment, astriction, attachment, compagination, vincture, ligation, alligation, accouplement, marriage infibulation, inosculation, symphysis, anastomosis, confluence, communication, concatenation, meeting, reunion, assemblage, coition, copulation, sex, sexual congress, sexual conjunction, sexual intercourse, love-making, joint, joining, juncture, pivot, hinge, articulation, commissure, seam, gore, gusset, suture, stitch, link, miter mortise, closeness, tightness coherence, combination, annexationist, joined, joint, conjoint, conjunct, corporate, compact, hand in hand, firm, fast, close, tight, taut, taught, secure, set, intervolved, inseparable, indissoluble, insecable, severable, jointly, in conjunction with, fast, firmly intimately, tria juncta in uno.

VB join, unite, conjoin, connect, associate, put together, lay together, clap together, hang together, lump together, hold together, piece together, tack together, fix together, bind up together together, embody, reembody, roll into one, attach, fix, affix, saddle on, fasten, bind, secure, clinch, twist, make fast, tie, pinion, string, strap, sew, lace, tat, stitch, tack, knit, button, buckle, hitch, lash, truss, bandage, braid, splice, swathe, gird, tether, moor, picket, harness, chain, fetter, lock, latch, belay, brace, hook, grapple, leash, couple, accouple, link, yoke, bracket, marry, bridge over, span, braze, pin, nail, bolt, hasp, clasp, clamp, crimp, screw, rivet, impact, solder, set, weld together, fuse together, wedge, rabbet, mortise, miter, jam, dovetail, enchase, graft, ingraft, inosculate, entwine, intwine, interlink, interlace, intertwine, intertwist, interweave, entangle, twine round, belay, tighten, trice up, screw up, be joined, hang together, hold together, cohere.

Action

N action, performance, doing perpetration, exercise, excitation, movement, operation, evolution, work, labor, praxis, execution, procedure, handicraft, business, agency, deed, act, overt act, stitch, touch, gest transaction, job, doings, dealings, proceeding, measure, step, maneuver, bout, passage, move, stroke, blow, coup, coup de main, coup d'etat, tour de force, feat, exploit, achievement, handiwork, workmanship, manufacture, stroke of policy, actor, doing, acting, in action, in harness, on duty, in operation, in the act, in the midst of, in the thick of, red-handed, in flagrante delicto, while one's hand is in, action is eloquence, actions speak louder than words, actum aiunt ne agas, awake, arise, or be forever fall'n, dii pia facta vident, faire sans dire, fare fac, fronte capillata post est occasio calva, our deeds are sometimes better than our thoughts, the great end of life is not knowledge but action, thought is the soul of act, vivre-ce nest pas respirer c'est agir, we live in deeds not years.

Physical Pain

N physical pain, pain, suffering, sufferance, suffrance, bodily pain, physical pain, bodily suffering, physical suffering, body pain, mental suffering, dolour, ache, aching, smart, shoot, shooting, twinge, twitch, gripe, headache, stomach ache, heartburn, angina, angina pectoris, hurt, cut, sore, soreness, discomfort, malaise, cephalalgia, earache, gout, ischiagra, lumbago, neuralgia, odontalgia, otalgia, podagra, rheumatism, sciatica, tic douloureux, toothache, tormina, torticollis, spasm, cramp, nightmare, ephialtes, crick, stitch, thrill, convulsion, throe, throb, pang, colic, kink, sharp pain, piercing pain, throbbing pain, shooting pain, sting, gnawing pain, burning pain, excruciating pain, anguish, agony, torment, torture, rack, cruciation, crucifixion, martyrdom, toad under a harrow, vivisection, in pain, in a state of pain, pained, gouty, podagric, torminous, painful, aching, sore, raw, Special Sensation (1) Touch.