# stitch

> English word · Noun · IPA /stɪt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #12,334

## Definitions
1. A single pass of a needle in sewing; the loop or turn of the thread thus made.
2. A single pass of a needle in sewing; the loop or turn of the thread thus made.
3. An arrangement of stitches in sewing, or method of stitching in some particular way or style.
4. An intense stabbing pain under the lower edge of the ribcage, brought on by exercise or laughing.
5. A local sharp pain (anywhere); an acute pain, like the piercing of a needle.
6. A single turn of the thread round a needle in knitting; a link, or loop, of yarn
7. An arrangement of stitches in knitting, or method of knitting in some particular way or style.
8. A space of work taken up, or gone over, in a single pass of the needle.
9. A fastening, as of thread or wire, through the back of a book to connect the pages.
10. Any space passed over; distance.
11. Any least part of a fabric or clothing.
12. An incorporation of an existing video into a new one, resulting in a collaborative clip that shows the two videos in a sequence.
13. A ridge of ploughed land between two furrows.
14. A contortion, or twist.

## Etymology
From Middle English stiche, from Old English stiċe (“a prick, puncture, stab, thrust with a pointed implement, pricking sensation, stitch, pain in the side, sting”), from Proto-West Germanic *stiki, from Proto-Germanic *stikiz (“prick, piercing, stitch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to stab, pierce”).
Cognate with Dutch steek (“prick, stitch”), German Stich (“a prick, piercing, stitch”), Old English stician (“to stick, stab, pierce, prick”). More at stick. Via PIE cognate with Czech steh, Polish ścieg, Russian стежо́к (stežók).

## Easily confused with
- **switch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stitch-vs-switch)
- **swatch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stitch-vs-swatch)
- **stretch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stitch-vs-stretch)
- **sith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sith-vs-stitch)
- **sich** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sich-vs-stitch)
- **smith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smith-vs-stitch)
- **stick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stick-vs-stitch)
- **saith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saith-vs-stitch)
- **sketch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sketch-vs-stitch)
- **scotch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scotch-vs-stitch)
- **snatch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snatch-vs-stitch)
- **starch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/starch-vs-stitch)
- **stench** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stench-vs-stitch)
- **snitch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snitch-vs-stitch)

## Common misspellings (10)
`sittch`, `sstitch`, `sticth`, `stitcch`, `stitchh`, `stithc`, `stittch`, `sttich`, `sttitch`, `tsitch`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stitch