stitch

1 noun

1 SEWING (C) one of the short pieces of thread that you can see in a piece of cloth where it has been sewn: Some of the stitches have come out of this shirt sleeve.

2 WITH WOOL (C) one of the small circles that join together to make a sweater etc, formed when you are knitting (knit1 (1)) with wool: drop a stitch (=lose a stitch because the wool has come off the needle)

3 STYLE (C, U) a particular way of sewing or knitting (knit1 (2)) that makes a particular pattern: Purl and plain are the two main stitches in knitting.

4 FOR WOUND (C) a piece of thread that fastens the edges of a wound together: The cut needed 15 stitches. | He had three stitches in it..

5 PAIN (singular) a sharp pain in the side of your body, that you can get by running or laughing very hard: I can't go any faster - I have a stitch.

6 in stitches laughing uncontrollably: have sb in stitches (=make sb laugh): Her jokes had us all in stitches.

7 not have a stitch on informal to be wearing no clothes

8 not have a stitch to wear to not have any clothing that is suitable for a particular occasion

9 a stitch in time (saves nine) spoken used to say that it is better to deal with problems early than to wait until they get worse

2 verb (T) to sew two pieces of cloth together, or to sew a decoration onto a piece of cloth: She stitches the pieces together to make a quilt. | stitch sth onto: Nina stitched a flower onto the skirt. stitch up phrasal verb (T)

1 (stitch something up) to put stitches in cloth or a wound in order to fasten parts of it together: She stitched up the cut and left it to heal.

2 (stitch something up) to get a deal or agreement completed satisfactorily so that it cannot be changed: The deal was stitched up in minutes.

3 (stitch someone up) BrE informal to make someone seem guilty of a crime by providing false information; frame 2 (3): George said he'd been stitched up.