to bind off
- phrasal verb
- Jargon
:
cerrar
- He is binding off the sleeves of the sweater right now.
Examples
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Make sure to bind off your project properly!
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After completing the pattern, she bound off the last row to finish her scarf.
-
Make sure you bind off loosely or the edge will be too tight.
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She binds off the last row with care.
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To prevent the scarf from unraveling, she decided to bind off the last row of stitches.
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After completing the blanket, he started to bind off the edges carefully.
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The pattern instructed her to bind off the stitches tightly for a neat finish.
Synonyms
1
8.2
To finish the last row of knitting so the stitches do not come undone
1
6.3
To sew fabric edges with a special stitch to stop them coming apart
1
4.1
To fold the edge of cloth and sew it to stop it coming apart
To sew over a fabric edge with long stitches to stop it from coming apart
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'bind' (to tie or secure) and 'off' (indicating removal/completion) together point toward securing or tying something so it is finished, so a learner could infer a general sense of ‘tie/secure to finish’. However, the term is a technical knitting procedure with a specific mechanical meaning (securing stitches at the end) that is not fully predictable from the words alone, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Bind off comes from knitting. When knitters finish, they bind stitches off by passing a loop over the next stitch to close each one and make a strong edge so the work will not come apart, so bind off means 'to finish and secure the last row'.