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sew

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sew¹

  • /səʊ/ UK
  • /soʊ/ Canadian, US, Standard
  • /səʉ/ Australia
  • /sɐʉ/ New Zealand
  • /so/ Scotland
  • /sou/ Wales

Sounds like sow (one pronunciation), seau, so, soe, soh (toe–tow merger) · Rhymes with -əʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English sewen, sowen, from Old English siwian, seowian, seowan (“to sew, mend, patch, knit together, link, unite”), from Proto-Germanic *siwjaną (“to sew”), from Proto-Indo-European *syewH- (“to sew”). Cognate with Scots sew, North Frisian saie, sei, Saterland Frisian säie, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish sy, and, more distantly, Polish szyć, Russian шить (šitʹ), Latin suō, Sanskrit सीव्यति (sī́vyati). Related to seam.

verb sews · sewing · sewed · sewn · sewen

  1. transitive To use a needle to pass thread repeatedly through (pieces of fabric) in order to join them together. I sewed a button on.
  2. intransitive To use a needle to pass thread repeatedly through pieces of fabric in order to join them together.
  3. transitive Followed by into: to enclose by sewing. to sew money into a bag

Similar: stitch

sew²

  • /sjuː/
  • /suː/

Sounds like sue

Where it comes from

Back-formation from sewer (“a drain”).

verb sews · sewing · sewed

  1. obsolete, transitive To drain the water from. Now geld with the gelder the ram and the bul, / sew ponds, amend dammes, and sel webster thy wul
  2. Of a ship, to be grounded. The upward reaction of the keel blocks may be considered as a negative weight in a moment calculation, producing a decrease in the ship's stability, and it is most important that the vessel remains stable until she takes the blocks along the full length of her keel, i.e. when she is sewed, for until

sew³

  • /sjuː/
  • /suː/

Sounds like sue

Where it comes from

From Middle English sew (“broth”), from Old English sēaw (“sap, juice”), from Proto-West Germanic *sauw.

noun sews

  1. obsolete Broth, gravy. And than as for other Potages, ſtued Trypys, yt is dight redy. And than for to make the Numbleis in ſewe[…]

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