What it means
To stitch someone up means to deliberately put them in a spot where they get blamed, look guilty, or end up lumbered with the mess. It's classic British slang for being framed, conned, or neatly shafted by someone who's played it sly and left you holding the bag.
Usage examples
"She stitched me up at work, told the gaffer I’d volunteered for the weekend shift. Now I’m in on Saturday while she’s at the pub, cheeky cow."
"They stitched him up good and proper, left the broken printer by his desk so the boss thought it was him."
"I only signed because they stitched me up, made it sound routine and buried the catch in the small print."
"Don't act innocent, you stitched me up there. Told everyone I'd sort the booking, then vanished when it was time to pay the deposit."
"He got stitched up by the lads and ended up carrying all the boxes while they stood there chatting breeze."
Where it comes from
It grows out of the literal stitch idea, then turns nicely dodgy in British slang. By the late 1800s and early 1900s it was being used around crime, policing, and shady setups for fixing things so blame stuck to someone. Basically, the story gets sewn up and you're the poor sod left wearing it.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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