Meaning & use
interweaved
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“interweaved” is a form of “interweave”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past tense of interweave: wove things together so that they cross over each other.
Grammar: As a past-tense verb it takes an object in the active voice: she interweaved the ribbons. The irregular form interwove is also common.
Patterns
- interweaved something with something
- interweaved something together
- interweaved into something
She interweaved red and gold threads to make the pattern.
The dancers interweaved across the stage in long lines.
He interweaved the old stories with new details in his novel.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past participle of interweave: mixed closely together with something else.
Grammar: Used after have or be: the themes are interweaved; many writers prefer interwoven here.
Patterns
- be interweaved with something
- have interweaved something
The film's comedy is interweaved with moments of real sadness.
Their lives had become interweaved over thirty years of friendship.
Fact and legend are interweaved throughout the book.
Word forms
| third person singular | interweaves |
|---|---|
| past tense | interweaved |
| past participle | interweaved |
| -ing form | interweaving |
| irregular past tense | interwove |
| irregular past participle | interwoven |
Common combinations
- interweave something with something
- The author interwove history with personal memory.
- closely interwoven
- Work and family life are closely interwoven for her.
- interweave threads
- The weaver interwove silk threads of many colors.
- interweave themes
- The play interweaves several themes at once.
- interweave stories
- The documentary interweaves the stories of five families.
Synonyms and how they differ
- intertwine
- Very close in meaning and more common in everyday use; it often suggests things curling around each other rather than being woven.
- entwine
- More literary, and usually about one thing winding around another rather than two things being mixed equally.
- blend
- Focuses on the result of mixing, not on the crossing pattern that interweave suggests.
Opposites
Word family
- interweave verb
- The base verb: to weave things together.
- interwoven adjective
- Closely mixed or connected, as in closely interwoven lives.
- interweaving noun
- The act or result of weaving things together, as in an interweaving of styles.
Commonly confused: interweaved or intervened? interweaved or interweave?
interweaved vs intervened
Intervened means stepped in to change a situation; interweaved means wove things together. They look similar but have nothing in common in meaning.
interweaved vs interweave
The base form; interweaved is a past tense or past participle, so do not use it after 'to' or 'will'.
Practice
Which sentence uses the correct form of the verb?
Choose one answer.
After 'has', the past participle 'interweaved' is correct. After 'will' you need the base form 'interweave', so that option fails; the preposition 'to' after interweaved is wrong; and the passive-style 'was interweaved' cannot take a direct object like 'the two plot lines'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “interweaved”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.