stitch up

phrasal verb

stitched up; stitching up; stitches up

: to use a needle and thread to close a large cut or wound

The doctor stitched up his wound.

The doctor stitched him up.

British, informal : to make (an innocent person) appear to be guilty of a crime : frame

They stitched him up for murder.

British, informal : to do the final things that are needed to complete (something) in a successful way : to finish or do (something) successfully

The mayor stitched up a deal with the union.

We were ahead by 10 points and thought that we had the game stitched up.

Examples of stitch up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Gaza doctors describe a collapsing health system One physician said injured patients are being stitched up with neither anesthesia nor narcotics. —

Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 19 Jan. 2024 During surgery, a doctor nicked an artery, which was then stitched up. —

Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023 Najjar told us that he was forced to tell a patient with a face wound to go out to a local drug store to buy the supplies needed to stitch up the gash. —

Adam Rasgon, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2023 That offers reason enough to stitch up the wounded Pac, if possible, and sort through exit fees after the conference-saving bones are in place. —

Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Aug. 2023 Royce was stitched up in multiple areas and underwent surgery on her face and ears. —

Sara Smart, CNN, 12 Aug. 2023 Copeland's leg was stitched up and she was sent home with antibiotics, but the wound quickly got infected. —

Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 30 July 2023 This wasn't stitched up months ago, as Iran has kept its military involvement largely confined to having military advisors in Syria. —

Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2015

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stitch up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.