Meaning & use
weave
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To make cloth, baskets or mats by crossing threads or strips over and under one another.
Grammar: Past tense wove, past participle woven: she wove a rug.
Patterns
- weave something from something
- weave something into something
She wove a blanket from wool.
Villagers weave baskets from reeds.
The spider wove a web across the doorway.
verbtransitivefigurative
To combine separate details or events into one connected story or whole.
Grammar: Often weave something into something: weave facts into a story.
Patterns
- weave something into something
- weave a story
The author weaves several plotlines into one novel.
He wove jokes into his speech.
The film weaves history and myth together.
verbintransitive
To move along by turning repeatedly left and right around obstacles.
Grammar: Past tense is weaved in this sense: the cyclist weaved through traffic.
Patterns
- weave through something
- weave in and out
The cyclist weaved through the traffic.
Runners weaved between the crowds.
The car weaved across the lanes.
nouncountable
The pattern in which threads are woven together in a fabric.
Grammar: Often an adjective plus weave: a loose weave.
Patterns
- a loose weave
- a tight weave
The scarf has a loose weave.
Denim has a tight twill weave.
Word forms
| third person singular | weaves |
|---|---|
| past tense | wove |
| past participle | woven |
| -ing form | weaving |
| plural | weaves |
Common combinations
- weave a basket
- She learned to weave a basket.
- weave a spell
- The storyteller wove a spell over the room.
- weave in and out
- Cars weave in and out of lanes.
- weave through traffic
- Motorbikes weave through traffic.
- weave a web
- A spider will weave a web overnight.
- loose weave
- Linen has a loose weave.
Synonyms and how they differ
- knit
- Knit means to make fabric with loops using needles, not by crossing threads.
- braid
- Braid means twisting three or more strands together, a narrower action.
- zigzag
- Zigzag describes sharp turns in a path, while weave suggests smoother movement through obstacles.
- interlace
- Interlace is more formal and describes threads crossing each other.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: weave or we've?
weave vs we've
We've is a contraction of 'we have'; it sounds like weave but is a different word.
Practice
The artist ___ colorful threads into a tapestry yesterday.
Choose one answer.
For making cloth the past tense is wove. Woven is the participle and needs 'had' or 'was'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “weave”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.