skein
Use Skein in a sentence
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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To skein
00:10
Skein
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
skein (skeɪn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —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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Example sentences
It developed into a skein of small companies that grew into bigger ones.
Knot invariants are usually defined through the skein relations.
The areas of higher concern are the skein becks and the drip traps on the distribution system.
Sometimes skein theories also involve tangled graphs skinning map.
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