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Definition of "patchwork" []

  • Needlework consisting of varicolored patches of material sewn together, as in a quilt. (noun)
  • A collection of miscellaneous or incongruous parts; a jumble. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "patchwork" in a sentence
  • "To describe existing federal policies and regulatory approaches on obesity as a patchwork is an insult to quilts everywhere."
  • "In a direct swipe at his brother, Ed, who used a Guardian article on Monday to lambast Nick Clegg for selling out Liberal principles, the shadow foreign secretary will criticise what he calls a patchwork approach to building electoral support."
  • "Barack Obama wants the Federal Reserve to have more authority over regulating financial insitutions, reducing what he calls the patchwork of regulatory authorities that contributed to this crisis."