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Definition 2024


in_stitches

in stitches

English

Phrase

in stitches

  1. (idiomatic) Laughing vigorously; very amused; aching due to convulsive laughter.
    • 1918, Laura Lee Hope, The Outdoor Girls in Army Service, chapter 15:
      "I was just dancing with old Doctor Riley, and he kept me in stitches. Half the time he had almost to carry me around, I was laughing so."
    • 1955 May 15, "People", in Time:
      Leaving the White House after a unilateral chat with Coolidge, Actress Barrymore, in stitches from laughter, was confronted by perplexed newsmen wondering what was so funny.
    • 2004, Willis Barnstone, We Jews and Blacks, ISBN 9780253344199, page 59:
      I took a graduate seminar in close-reading of Dylan Thomas and Joyce, and among the smart students a nun and a rabbi kept us in stitches with their endless whimsy and scholarship.

Usage notes

  • Often used with the verb keep.

See also