sew (someone or something) up
1. To close an open wound in a person with stitches. We have to sew him up quickly after we're done repairing the bone. It turns out the doctors left a sponge inside my abdomen before sewing me back up.
2. To close one or multiple openings in something by sewing, especially in an attempt to repair or mend it. I had to use fishing line to sew up the hole in the sail. Would you mind sewing these pants up for me?
3. To successfully conclude or settle some dealing, activity, or endeavor. I was finally able to sew the contract up with the other firm. She seems to have sewn up a victory in the last days of the election.
4. To gain and maintain total control over something. There have been a few rival companies, but most would agree that they've sewn up the market at this point.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*sewed up
1. Lit. [the sewing of a gap in cloth] completed. (*Typically: get something ~; have something ~.) Have you got that tear sewed up yet?
2. and *wrapped up Fig. settled or finished. (*Typically: get something ~; have something ~.) I'll take the contract to the mayor tomorrow morning. I'll get the whole deal sewed up by noon. Don't worry about the car loan. I'll have it wrapped up in time to make the purchase.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.