Definition of "patchwork"

patchwork

noun
countable and uncountable, plural patchworks
1. A work, such as a blanket, composed of many different colors and shapes, sewn together to make an interesting whole.
2. (figurative) Any kind of creation that utilizes many different aspects to create one whole piece.
  Quotations
  Everything about China is super-sized: The five new parks, which in some cases stitched together an older patchwork of conservation zones, sprawl across more than 88,800 square miles of territory—a protected area more than 25 times the size of Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
  2022 November 17, Paul Salopek, “A ‘Slow Storytelling’ Writing and Photography Workshop Boosts Conservation in China”, in National Geographic‎
3. (derogatory) A state of regulations whose constituents have an opaque scope of application because of their questionable delimitation with regard to each other.
  Quotations
  Present United States privacy law – despite being made up of a patchwork federal and state constitutional, statutory, and common law – is predominantly based on the ideals of individual control, autonomy, and liberty from governmental intrusion, despite the fact that its inspiration was an idea grounded on the importance of protecting human dignity and an “inviolate personality.”
  2011, Bryce Clayton Newell, “Rethinking Reasonable Expectations of Privacy in Online Social Networks”, in Richmond Journal of Law and Technology, volume 17, number 4, page 5
verb
third-person singular simple present patchworks, present participle patchworking, simple past and past participle patchworked
1. To create a patchwork from pieces of fabric.
2. To assemble from a variety of sources; to cobble together.