What it means
When you're in stitches, you're laughing so hard you've fully lost the plot. We're talking bent over, wheezing, eyes streaming, maybe trying to say something and getting absolutely nothing out but chaos. If someone's got you in stitches, they've properly finished you off with laughter. It's everyday, friendly English, not anything medical.
Usage examples
"Kev did that dodgy accent at the pub and it came out like a dying kettle. We were in stitches, snorting, wiping tears, the barman losing it."
"My nan had us in stitches at the Sunday roast retelling the story of how grandad fell into the koi pond at the silver wedding, complete with the duck pond impression and the soggy waistcoat."
"The new sitcom on iPlayer had me in stitches for the full half hour, the bit with the broken trolley in the supermarket aisle made me laugh so hard the dog left the lounge in protest."
"That video of the bloke trying to jump the fence and landing in the bin had me in stitches all morning."
"She did one little eye-roll after his cheesy chat-up line and the whole table was in stitches."
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Where it comes from
It comes from stitch in the old sense of a sharp pain in your side, the kind you get from hard running or from laughing too much. That image has been around in English for centuries, showing up by the late 1500s and 1600s, then settling into in stitches for helpless laughter.
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