embroidery

/ɛmˈbrɔɪdəri/

/ɛmˈbrɔɪdəri/

Other forms: embroideries

Embroidery is the act of decorating a piece of cloth with a stitched design. You may have seen large medieval examples of embroidery hanging on the walls of museums depicting flowers and wild animals and the like.

Embroidery also has a common figurative meaning of something deceptive, or an excessive and unnecessary detail designed to mislead, or simply something vain and foolish (see embellishment.) The great American designer Buckminster Fuller summed up this sense of the word nicely: "Tombs are the clothes of the dead and a grave is a plain suit; while an expensive monument is one with embroidery."

Definitions of embroidery

1. noun

   decorative needlework
   synonyms: fancywork

   types:

   candlewick

   loops of soft yarn are cut to give a tufted pattern

   crewelwork

   embroidery done with loosely twisted worsted yarn

   cross-stitch

   embroidery done with pairs of stitches that cross each other

   cutwork

   embroidery in which the design is outlined in a buttonhole stitch and the intervening material is cut away

   drawnwork

   ornamental needlework done by drawing threads to form lacelike patterns

   faggoting, fagoting

   embroidery in which groups of parallel threads are tied together with fagot stitches

   hemstitch

   embroidery similar to drawnwork

   needlepoint, needlepoint embroidery

   embroidery consisting of allover embroidered canvas resembling tapestry

   sampler

   a piece of embroidery demonstrating skill with various stitches

   smocking

   embroidery consisting of ornamental needlework on a garment that is made by gathering the cloth tightly in stitches

   gros point

   needlepoint embroidery done with large stitches

   petit point

   needlepoint done with small stitches

   type of:

   needlecraft, needlework

   a creation created or assembled by needle and thread
2. noun

   elaboration of an interpretation by the use of decorative (sometimes fictitious) detail
   synonyms: embellishment

   type of:

   elaboration, enlargement, expansion

   a discussion that provides additional information