[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/sew/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [S](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/s/) / sew

# sew

verb (sew, sews, sewed, sewn or sewed, sewing)

«sew» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To sew is to join cloth or attach things like buttons with a needle and thread. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#m1)
2. To sew is to make or mend clothes with a needle or a sewing machine. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#m2)
3. To sew up something is to finish or make sure of it (informal). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#m3)

### In the lessons

making things: shirts sewn per day, buttons sewn on, cloth used; in design and technology lessons: running stitch, sewing a puppet or a bag; in safety: be careful with sharp needles and scissors; phrases: «sew on a button», «sew up a hole», «sewing machine»

### Examples

- She sews 4 dresses a week. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x1)
- He sews 5 buttons on each shirt. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x2)
- Each bag needs 2 m of cloth to sew. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x3)
- How many shirts can she sew? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x4)
- Grandma taught me to sew on a button. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x5)
- We sewed felt puppets in class. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x6)
- Keep your needles in a pincushion when you sew. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x7)
- Mum sewed up the hole in my sock. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x8)
- He sewed them on his coat. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/#x9)

### Note

A rate of work: things per day × days; cloth ÷ cloth per thing. Homophones: sew (with a needle), so, and sow (plant seeds) sound the same. Past: sewed; past participle: sewn.

## In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: Adam and Eve sewing fig leaves is read as the first clothes, and later God made them better garments of skin. In the primary lessons: making things: shirts sewn per day, buttons sewn on, cloth used; in design and technology lessons: running stitch, sewing a puppet or a bag; in safety: be careful with sharp needles and scissors; phrases: «sew on a button», «sew up a hole», «sewing machine»

### Examples

- And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles. (Torah GEN.3.7, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sew/#x1)
- I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my horn in the dust. (Writings JOB.16.15, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sew/#x2)
- A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; (Writings ECC.3.7, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sew/#x3)
- and say: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Woe to the women that sew cushions upon all elbows, and make pads for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! (Prophets EZK.13.18, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sew/#x4)

### Note

A rate of work: things per day × days; cloth ÷ cloth per thing. Homophones: sew (with a needle), so, and sow (plant seeds) sound the same. Past: sewed; past participle: sewn.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «sew» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sew/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«sew» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/sew.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «sew» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sew/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«sew» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/sew.html) on Mova free.