Thread Definition | Definition of Thread at Dictionary.com

thread

[thred]

–noun

1.	a fine cord of flax, cotton, or other fibrous material spun out to considerable length, esp. when composed of two or more filaments twisted together.

2.	twisted filaments or fibers of any kind used for sewing.

3.	one of the lengths of yarn forming the warp or weft of a woven fabric.

4.	a filament or fiber of glass or other ductile substance.

Ropemaking.

a.	any of a number of fibers twisted into a yarn.

b.	a yarn, esp. as enumerated in describing small stuff.

6.	something having the fineness or slenderness of a filament, as a thin continuous stream of liquid, a fine line of color, or a thin seam of ore: a thread of smoke.

7.	the helical ridge of a screw.

8.	that which runs through the whole course of something, connecting successive parts: I lost the thread of the story.

9.	something conceived as being spun or continuously drawn out, as the course of life fabled to be spun, measured, and cut by the Fates.

10.	Computers. a series of newsgroup messages dealing with the same subject.

11.	threads, Slang. clothes.

–verb (used with object)

12.	to pass the end of a thread through the eye of (a needle).

13.	to fix (beads, pearls, etc.) upon a thread that is passed through; string.

14.	to pass continuously through the whole course of (something); pervade: A joyous quality threaded the whole symphony.

15.	to make one's way through (a narrow passage, forest, crowd, etc.).

16.	to make (one's way) thus: He threaded his way through the crowd.

17.	to form a thread on or in (a bolt, hole, etc.).

18.	to place and arrange thread, yarn, etc., in position on (a sewing machine, loom, textile machine, etc.).

–verb (used without object)

19.	to thread one's way, as through a passage or between obstacles: They threaded carefully along the narrow pass.

20.	to move in a threadlike course; wind or twine.

21.	Cookery. (of boiling syrup) to form a fine thread when poured from a spoon.

Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME threed, OE thrǣd; c. D draad, G Draht, ON thrathr wire; (v.) ME threeden, deriv. of the n. See throw

Related forms:

threader, noun

threadless, adjective

threadlike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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thread (thrěd)

1. Fine cord of a fibrous material, such as cotton or flax, made of two or more filaments twisted together and used in needlework and the weaving of cloth.
2. A piece of such cord.
3. A thin strand, cord, or filament of natural or manufactured material.
4. Something that suggests the fineness or thinness of such a strand, cord, or filament: a thread of smoke.
5. Something that suggests the continuousness of such a strand, cord, or filament: lost the thread of his argument.
6. A portion of a program that can run independently of and concurrently with other portions of the program.
7. A set of posts on a newsgroup, composed of an initial post about a topic and all responses to it.
1. A thin strand, cord, or filament of natural or manufactured material.
2. Something that suggests the fineness or thinness of such a strand, cord, or filament: a thread of smoke.
3. Something that suggests the continuousness of such a strand, cord, or filament: lost the thread of his argument.
4. A portion of a program that can run independently of and concurrently with other portions of the program.
5. A set of posts on a newsgroup, composed of an initial post about a topic and all responses to it.
A helical or spiral ridge on a screw, nut, or bolt.
Computer Science
1. A portion of a program that can run independently of and concurrently with other portions of the program.
2. A set of posts on a newsgroup, composed of an initial post about a topic and all responses to it.
threads Slang Clothes.

v. thread·ed, thread·ing, threads

v. tr.

1. To pass one end of a thread through the eye of (a needle, for example).
2. To pass (something) through in the manner of a thread: thread the wire through the opening.
3. To pass a tape or film into or through (a device): thread a film projector.
4. To pass (a tape or film) into or through a device.
5. To make one's way cautiously through: threading dark alleys.
6. To make (one's way) cautiously through something.
To connect by running a thread through; string: thread beads.
1. To make one's way cautiously through: threading dark alleys.
2. To make (one's way) cautiously through something.
To occur here and there throughout; pervade: "More than 90 geologic faults thread the Los Angeles area" (Science News).
To machine a thread on (a screw, nut, or bolt).

v. intr.

To make one's way cautiously: threaded through the shoals and sandbars.
To proceed by a winding course.
To form a thread when dropped from a spoon, as boiling sugar syrup.

[Middle English, from Old English thrǣd; see terə-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
thread'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Thread

Thread\ (thr[e^]d), n. [OE. threed, [thorn]red, AS. [thorn]r[=ae]d; akin to D. draad, G. draht wire, thread, OHG. dr[=a]t, Icel. [thorn]r[=a][eth]r a thread, Sw. tr[*a]d, Dan. traad, and AS. [thorn]r[=a]wan to twist. See Throw, and cf. Third.]

1. A very small twist of flax, wool, cotton, silk, or other fibrous substance, drawn out to considerable length; a compound cord consisting of two or more single yarns doubled, or joined together, and twisted.

2. A filament, as of a flower, or of any fibrous substance, as of bark; also, a line of gold or silver.

3. The prominent part of the spiral of a screw or nut; the rib. See Screw, n., 1.

4. Fig.: Something continued in a long course or tenor; a,s the thread of life, or of a discourse. --Bp. Burnet.

5. Fig.: Composition; quality; fineness. [Obs.]

A neat courtier, Of a most elegant thread. --B. Jonson.

Air thread, the fine white filaments which are seen floating in the air in summer, the production of spiders; gossamer.

Thread and thrum, the good and bad together. [Obs.] --Shak.

Thread cell (Zo["o]l.), a lasso cell. See under Lasso.

Thread herring (Zo["o]l.), the gizzard shad. See under Gizzard.

Thread lace, lace made of linen thread.

Thread needle, a game in which children stand in a row, joining hands, and in which the outer one, still holding his neighbor, runs between the others; -- called also thread the needle.

Thread

Thread\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Threaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Threading.]

1. To pass a thread through the eye of; as, to thread a needle.

2. To pass or pierce through as a narrow way; also, to effect or make, as one's way, through or between obstacles; to thrid.

Heavy trading ships . . . threading the Bosphorus. --Mitford.

They would not thread the gates. --Shak.

3. To form a thread, or spiral rib, on or in; as, to thread a screw or nut.

Language Translation for : thread

Spanish: hilo, hebra,

German: der Faden,

Japanese: 糸

More Translations »

thread

n. [Usenet, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of `topic thread', a more or less continuous chain of postings on a single topic. To `follow a thread' is to read a series of Usenet postings sharing a common subject or (more correctly) which are connected by Reference headers. The better newsreaders can present news in thread order automatically. Not to be confused with the techspeak sense of `thread', e.g. a lightweight process.

Interestingly, this is far from a neologism. The OED says: "That which connects the successive points in anything, esp. a narrative, train of thought, or the like; the sequence of events or ideas continuing throughout the whole course of anything;" Citations are given going back to 1642!

Jargon File 4.2.0
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thread (n.)

O.E. þræd "fine cord, especially when twisted" (related to þrawan "to twist"), from P.Gmc. *thrædus (cf. M.Du. draet, Du. draad, O.H.G. drat, Ger. Draht, O.N. þraðr), from suffixed form of base *thræ- "twist" (see throw). Meaning "spiral ridge of a screw" is from 1674. The verb meaning "to put thread through a needle" is recorded from c.1366; in ref. to film cameras from 1913. The dancing move called thread the needle is attested from 1844. Threads, slang for "clothes" is 1926, Amer.Eng. Threadbare is recorded from 1362, from the notion of "having the nap worn off," leaving bare the threads.

thread
1. See multithreading.
2. See threaded code.
3. topic thread.
[The Jargon File]

thread

see hang by a thread; lose the thread.

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