patchwork quilt
noun1
Literally A decorative quilt made of pieces of cloth having diverse sizes, colors, and shapes, sewn together either to form a regular pattern or in a deliberately mismatched fashion without a pattern.
2
Broadly, Figuratively Something having a haphazard or disorganized structure; something composed of seemingly random parts.
- Despite a patchwork quilt of aid that includes scholarships, loans and an on-campus job, Kenner's father, a train conductor, must now pay $6,000 out of pocket to send his daughter to school.1989 September 25, Susan Tifft et al., “Sticker Shock at the Ivory Tower”, in Time:
- Synonyms
- hodgepodge, jumble
- Related terms
- crazy quilt