weave

present singular third person weaves · participle present weaving · past wove · past weaved · participle past woven · participle past weaved · colloquial nonstandard participle past wove

1. transitiveTo form something by passing lengths or strands of material over and under one another.

   This loom weaves yarn into cloth.

   1 more example

   Eugene "Uncle Onio" Punzal has lived on Kauai his whole life. He began weaving coconut fronds when he was a young child after seeing traditional weavers selling their pāpales (a traditional style of crownless hat) and baskets to tourists on the beach.

   2026, Rebecca Fox, “Weaving with Aloha”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 80

2. transitiveTo spin a cocoon or a web.

   Spiders weave beautiful but deadly webs.

3. transitiveTo unite by close connection or intermixture.

   these words, thus woven into song

   1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza CII

   1 more example

   This weaves itself, perforce, into my business.

   c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

4. transitiveTo compose creatively and intricately; to fabricate.

   to weave the plot of a story

   1 more example

   According to the simple meaning, these verses warn against forgetting the Torah and against idol worship, but our Sages wove them into an Aggadic passage which deals with physical danger in order to say: Jews must protect their physical health.

   2024, David Golinkin, “Is Body Piercing Permitted According To Jewish Law”, in Responsa in a Moment, volume 4, page 193

plural weaves

1. A type or way of weaving.

   That rug has a very tight weave.

   1 more example

   Although fabrics of complex weave can most surely be identified as being imports, others, including a vast array of simple fabrics—bedding, table linens, everyday clothing fabrics—could have been made on either side of the Atlantic, since the materials and equipment were the same.

   1979, Kax Wilson, A History of Textiles, Westview Press, →ISBN, page 239

2. cosmeticsHuman or artificial hair worn to alter one's appearance, either to supplement or to cover the natural hair.

   The physician should evaluate for a history of tight ponytails, buns, chignons, braids, twists, weaves, cornrows, dreadlocks, sisterlocks, and hair wefts in addition to the usage of religious hair coverings.

   2021, Becky S. Li, Howard I. Maibach, Ethnic Skin and Hair and Other Cultural Considerations, page 154

present singular third person weaves · participle present weaving · participle past weaved · past weaved

1. intransitiveTo move by turning and twisting.

   The drunk weaved into another bar.

   2 more examples

   The victims’ feeling of incredulity at what they were seeing, swiftly turning to paralysing fear as the van bore down on them, swerving and weaving to hit as many people as possible, can barely be imagined.

   2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain”, in The Observer

   Tevez picked up a throw-in from the right, tip-toed his way into the area and weaved past three Wolves challenges before slotting in to display why, of all City's multi-million pound buys, he remains their most important player.

   2011 January 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Man City 4 - 3 Wolves”, in BBC

2. transitiveTo make (a path or way) by winding in and out or from side to side.

   The ambulance weaved its way through the heavy traffic.

   1 more example

   Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread: For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drank the milk of Paradise.

   1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: Or A Vision in a Dream”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 58

3. intransitiveTo move the head back and forth in a stereotyped pattern, typically as a symptom of stress.