PATCHWORK

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does patchwork mean? 

• PATCHWORK (noun)
  The noun PATCHWORK has 3 senses:

1. a theory or argument made up of miscellaneous or incongruous ideas

2. a quilt made by sewing patches of different materials together

3. sewing consisting of pieces of different materials sewn together in a pattern

  Familiarity information: PATCHWORK used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PATCHWORK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A theory or argument made up of miscellaneous or incongruous ideas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

hodgepodge; jumble; patchwork

Hypernyms ("patchwork" is a kind of...):

theory (a belief that can guide behavior)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A quilt made by sewing patches of different materials together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

patchwork; patchwork quilt

Hypernyms ("patchwork" is a kind of...):

comfort; comforter; puff; quilt (bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "patchwork"):

crazy quilt (a patchwork quilt without a design)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Sewing consisting of pieces of different materials sewn together in a pattern

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("patchwork" is a kind of...):

sewing; stitchery (needlework on which you are working with needle and thread)

 Context examples 

Well, fetch me your portfolio, if you can vouch for its contents being original; but don't pass your word unless you are certain: I can recognise patchwork.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The walls were whitewashed as white as milk, and the patchwork counterpane made my eyes quite ache with its brightness.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

To Hannah I give the bandbox she wanted and all the patchwork I leave hoping she 'will remember me, when it you see'.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He was clothed with tatters of old ship's canvas and old sea-cloth, and this extraordinary patchwork was all held together by a system of the most various and incongruous fastenings, brass buttons, bits of stick, and loops of tarry gaskin.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Then patchwork or towels appeared, and Amy sewed with outward meekness and inward rebellion till dusk, when she was allowed to amuse herself as she liked till teatime.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

His bedstead, covered with a tumbled and ragged piece of patchwork, was in the den he had come from, where another little window showed a prospect of more stinging-nettles, and a lame donkey.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)