embroider

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to decorate cloth or clothing by sewing patterns or pictures directly onto it

   She learned to embroider flowers onto linen by hand.

2. 2
   verb

   figurative: to add invented or exaggerated details to a story or account

   He tends to embroider the story whenever he tells it to new listeners.

From Middle English embrouderen, through Anglo-Norman and Old French forms meaning 'embroider.' The ultimate Germanic source is uncertain. The figurative sense extends decorative stitching to decorative additions made to a story.

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