use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

weave (wēv)
Share:
v. wove (wōv), wo·ven (wōvən), weav·ing, weaves
v.tr.
1.
a. To make (cloth) by interlacing the threads of the weft and the warp on a loom.
b. To interlace (threads, for example) into cloth.
2. To construct by interlacing or interweaving strips or strands of material: weave a basket.
3.
a. To interweave or combine (elements) into a complex whole: wove the incidents into a story.
b. To contrive (something complex or elaborate) in this way: weave a tale.
4. To introduce (another element) into a complex whole; work in: wove folk tunes into the symphony.
5. To attach hair extensions to (hair).
6. To spin (a web, for example).
7. past tense & past participle often weaved To make (a path or way) by winding in and out or from side to side: weaved our way through the heavy traffic.
v.intr.
1.
a. To engage in weaving; make cloth.
b. To work at a loom.
2. past tense and past participle often weaved To move in and out or sway from side to side.
n.
1. The pattern, method of weaving, or construction of a fabric: a twill weave; a loose weave.
2. A hairstyle in which hair extensions are attached to existing strands of hair.

[Middle English weven, from Old English wefan; see webh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.