Meaning: sew

Illustrative Context

He sewed the two pieces of cloth together.

Target Sense

• The most generic verb for sew in the sense of using a needle to pass thread, repeatedly and alternatingly, through two or more pieces of cloth, in order to join them together, prototypically for clothing.
• The lexeme selected should be the default term that would be used, as in the illustrative context, for sewing articles of clothing, by hand with a needle, whether or not that term extends also to sewing by machine, and sewing other materials.
• Avoid any additional, narrower terms specific to other contexts, including the medical procedure to close a wound with thread, i.e. English stitch.
• The target sense is that of sewing to join existing pieces of cloth. Avoid other terms with more specific and/or different senses of sewing to repair clothes (e.g. darn), to actually create new fabrics from ‘threads’ (e.g. knit, weave), or looser terms for the overall process of making clothes (e.g. tailor).
• The target sense is the literal one that involves using a needle, thread and cloth. Avoid additional lexemes that are predominantly figurative extensions to senses of bringing together, alternating movement, etc..