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bobbin

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,428 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: bobbins

A bobbin is a small spool that thread is wound on. Wind the bobbin, a full bobbin, the bobbin ran out.

In a sewing machine there are two threads: the top one from the reel and the bottom one from the bobbin, and they lock together in the fabric. When the stitching goes wrong it is usually the bobbin tension, and threading it correctly is half the battle.

CSFC2850 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of bobbin

  1. 1nounbobbinA small spool that thread is wound on.C1

    “She wound some red thread onto the bobbin before she began sewing.”

bobbin is a spool.

Where it comes from

French bobine names the spool, of uncertain further origin.

  1. French

    bobine

  2. English, today

    bobbin

Borrowed from French bobine, recorded in English since 1530.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

bobbin in the wild

  • Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them.

    Bobbin lace

  • Bobbin lace is also known as pillow lace, because it was worked on a pillow, and bone lace, because early bobbins were made of bone or ivory.

    Bobbin lace

  • A bobbin or spool is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which yarn, thread, wire, tape or film is wound.

    Bobbin

  • Guipure lace is a type of bobbin lace.

    Guipure

  • Binche lace is a type of bobbin lace that originated in the town of Binche, Belgium.

    Binche lace

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • bobbin thread