needlepoint

/ˌnidlˈpɔɪnt/

Other forms: needlepoints

Needlepoint is a traditional art form that's done with thread on thick fabric. If your grandmother has a pillow with "Home Sweet Home" stitched on it, it's probably a work of needlepoint.

When you do needlepoint, you use various colors of a thick thread or an even thicker yarn, stitching it through a stiff material with an open, grid-like weave. Using a pattern or your own design, your needlepoint creation might, for example, be a portrait of a cat you can on the wall or make into a pillow. Another type of needlepoint is lace that's made with a needle — this is the earlier meaning of the word, from the mid-1800s.

Definitions of needlepoint

1. noun

   embroidery consisting of allover embroidered canvas resembling tapestry
   synonyms: needlepoint embroidery

   types:

   gros point

   needlepoint embroidery done with large stitches

   petit point

   needlepoint done with small stitches

   type of:

   embroidery, fancywork

   decorative needlework
2. noun

   lace worked with a needle in a buttonhole stitch on a paper pattern
   synonyms: point lace

   type of:

   lace

   a delicate decorative fabric woven in an open web of symmetrical patterns