Nearby Words
noun
1.
a length of yarn or thread wound on a reel or swift preparatory for use in manufacturing.
2.
anything wound in or resembling such a coil: a skein of hair.
3.
something suggestive of the twistings of a skein: an incoherent skein of words.
4.
a flock of geese, ducks, or the like, in flight.
5.
a succession or series of similar or interrelated things: a skein of tennis victories.
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English skeyne, skayne < Middle French escaigne < ?
1400–50; late Middle English skeyne, skayne < Middle French escaigne < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Skein
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Example Sentences
- It developed into a skein of small companies that grew into bigger ones.
- Buck, furniture dealer, committed suicide this morning by hanging herself with a skein of yarn.
Collins
World English Dictionary
| skein (skeɪn) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a length of yarn, etc, wound in a long coil |
| 2. | something resembling this, such as a lock of hair |
| 3. | Compare gaggle a flock of geese flying |
| [C15: from Old French escaigne, of unknown origin] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
skein
c.1440, from M.Fr. escaigne "a hank of yarn," from O.Fr. escagne (1354), of uncertain origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
Word Dynamo Rating For Skein
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