sew up
Lock in definitively
To sew up is to close something with stitches—a wound, a tear in fabric, or figuratively, a deal or outcome.
When you sew up a contract, you finalize it; when a team has the game sewn up, victory is secured.
The medical sense is literal: The surgeon sewed up the incision.
The figurative sense implies completeness beyond doubt.
suture
Medical wound closure
thread · wound · incision · laceration · surgical · repair · closure · ligature · catgut · healing
clinch
Settle beyond doubt
secure · nail down · complete · finish · settle · cinch · bag · ice · put away · guarantee
- finishfinish, complete, conclude, end, finalize
- Sewing Metaphorsseamless, threadbare, woven, hanging by a thread, needling