| 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. |

skein (skān) n.
[Middle English skeine, from Old French escaigne.] |