sew up

verb

sewed up; sewn up or sewed up; sewing up; sews up

transitive verb

1
: to mend completely by sewing
2
: to get exclusive use or control of
3
: to make certain of : be assured of
the team sewed up the division title

Examples of sew up in a Sentence

sewed up the available openings so that no one else had a chance to play golf
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Comms can sew up No. 6 NFC seed with win, so there’s a sliver of spoiler role left for Dallas. Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2025 No 1 Iga Swiatek seemingly has the French Open favourite tag sewn up; world No 2 Coco Gauff is defending U.S. Open champion; and world No 3 Aryna Sabalenka has won the last two Australian Opens. Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 14 Aug. 2024 Texas basketball looks up to sew up a NCAA tourney bid in the regular-season finale against Oklahoma Saturday, Texas baseball is having one massive struggle with four straight losses. Cedric Golden, Austin American-Statesman, 7 Mar. 2024 Discovery sewed up the long-term deal with Comcast before the end of 2024 — a year before it was set to expire. Todd Spangler, Variety, 9 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sew up 

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sew up was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near sew up

Cite this Entry

“Sew up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sew%20up. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

sew up

verb
1
: to get exclusive use or control of
2
: to make certain of
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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