Library / English Dictionary

EMBROIDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Add details to

Synonyms:

aggrandise; aggrandize; blow up; dramatise; dramatize; embellish; embroider; lard; pad

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "embroider" is one way to...):

amplify; exaggerate; hyperbolise; hyperbolize; magnify; overdraw; overstate (to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "embroider"):

glorify (cause to seem more splendid)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something with something

Sentence example:

They won't embroider the story

Derivation:

embroidery (elaboration of an interpretation by the use of decorative (sometimes fictitious) detail)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Decorate with needlework

Synonyms:

broider; embroider

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "embroider" is one way to...):

adorn; beautify; decorate; embellish; grace; ornament (make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.)

"Embroider" entails doing...:

run up; sew; sew together; stitch (fasten by sewing; do needlework)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "embroider"):

faggot; fagot (ornament or join (fabric) by faggot stitch)

purl (embroider with gold or silver thread)

purl (edge or border with gold or silver embroidery)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They embroider the cape

Derivation:

embroiderer (someone who ornaments with needlework)

embroidery (decorative needlework)

Credits

 Context examples: 

She had embroidered a white Welcome upon a blue ground, with an anchor in red upon each side, and a border of laurel leaves; and this was to hang upon the two lilac bushes which flanked the cottage door.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He fumbled at the embroidered coverlet, trying to take it from the bed, and lay down stiffly—was instantly asleep.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)