to overlock
1
6.3
To sew fabric edges with a special stitch to stop them coming apart
- verb
- /ˈoʊvərˌlɑk/
- UK
:
hacer un overlock
- And on more casual button down shirts, the armholes are occasionally overlocked instead, which is fine as long as the overlock is nice and neat.
Examples
-
He used the machine to overlock the hem of his new shirt.
-
The seamstress will overlock the edges of the fabric to prevent them from fraying.
-
To make the curtains last longer, I decided to overlock the raw edges.
Synonyms
1
8.8
To sew two cloth edges together with small stitches over them to stop fraying
applies a special edge stitch rather than joining two edges directly
to hem
vsto overlock
1
4.1
To fold the edge of cloth and sew it to stop it coming apart
sews over the raw edge with a continuous stitch instead of folding it
7.2
To sew over a fabric edge with long stitches to stop it from coming apart
uses a special continuous stitch focused on preventing edge fraying
8.7
To sew the folded edge of cloth by hand with small stitches over it
uses a special continuous stitch rather than a simple hand over-and-over stitch
How Secure
to reinforce
99
3.9
99
3.9
to overlock
1
6.3
- UK
1
6.3
to seam
3
3.6
3
3.6
to stitch
99
2.5
99
2.5
to tack
4
6.7
- Specialized
4
6.7
to baste
1
7.5
- Specialized
1
7.5
Surface Forms
overlock infinitive
overlocked past
overlocked past participle
overlocking present participle
overlocks third person singular
Morphology
Etymology
To overlock breaks into over- 'on top' and lock 'to fasten', so to overlock is to sew over the edge and 'lock' the threads. That's why when you overlock seams you make them stronger and stop the fabric from fraying.