a weaver

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A person whose job is making cloth by crossing threads on a machine or frame.

   Grammar: Countable: one weaver, two weavers; the job name is often used without "a" after "work as".

   Patterns

   • work as a weaver
   • a skilled weaver
   • a weaver of silk

   Her grandmother was a weaver in a small mill outside the city.

   The village has three weavers who still work on handlooms.

   He trained as a weaver before he became a designer.

2. 2nouncountable

   A small bird that builds hanging nests by twisting grass and plant fibers together.

   Grammar: Countable and used mainly in the plural or with a type word: weavers, a weaver bird.

   Patterns

   • a weaver bird
   • a colony of weavers

   We watched a weaver building its nest above the water.

   Weavers flew back and forth with long strips of grass.

Word forms

Common combinations

a skilled weaver

The workshop needs a skilled weaver who can handle fine thread.

work as a weaver

She worked as a weaver for almost twenty years.

a weaver's loom

The museum keeps a weaver's loom from the 1800s.

a weaver bird

A weaver bird hung its nest from the branch.

handloom weaver

Handloom weavers sell their cloth at the local market.

Synonyms and how they differ

textile worker

A broader term for anyone in the cloth industry, not only someone who weaves.

cloth maker

Everyday and less exact; it can describe someone who cuts or finishes cloth as well as weaves it.

Word family

weave verb

to make cloth by crossing threads over and under each other

weaving noun

the activity or craft of making cloth this way

woven adjective

describing cloth or material made by weaving

Commonly confused: a weaver or weever?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “a weaver”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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