thread

[thred]
noun
1.
a fine cord of flax, cotton, or other fibrous material spun out to considerable length, especially 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.
5.
Ropemaking.
a.
any of a number of fibers twisted into a yarn.
b.
a yarn, especially 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.).
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a fool or simpleton; ninny.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
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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:
before 900; (noun) Middle English threed, Old English thrǣd; cognate with Dutch draad, German Draht, Old Norse thrathr wire; (v.) Middle English threeden, derivative of the noun See throw

Related forms
thread·er, noun
thread·less, adjective
thread·like, adjective
mis·thread, verb
re·thread, verb
self-thread·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To threads
Collins
World English Dictionary
thread (θrɛd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a fine strand, filament or fibre of some material
2.  a fine cord of twisted filaments, esp of cotton, used in sewing, weaving, etc
3.  any of the filaments of which a spider's web is made
4.  any fine line, stream, mark, or piece: from the air, the path was a thread of white
5.  a helical groove in a cylindrical hole (female thread), formed by a tap or lathe tool, or a helical ridge on a cylindrical bar, rod, shank, etc (male thread), formed by a die or lathe tool
6.  a very thin seam of coal or vein of ore
7.  something acting as the continuous link or theme of a whole: the thread of the story
8.  the course of an individual's life believed in Greek mythology to be spun, measured, and cut by the Fates
 
—vb
9.  (tr) to pass (thread, film, magnetic tape, etc) through (something): to thread a needle; to thread cotton through a needle
10.  (tr) to string on a thread: she threaded the beads
11.  to make (one's way) through or over (something)
12.  (tr) to produce a screw thread by cutting, rolling, tapping, or grinding
13.  (tr) to pervade: hysteria threaded his account
14.  (intr) (of boiling syrup) to form a fine thread when poured from a spoon
 
[Old English thrǣd; related to Old Frisian thrēd, Old High German drāt, Old Norse thrāthr thread]
 
'threader
 
—n
 
'threadless
 
—adj
 
'threadlike
 
—adj

threads (θrɛdz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—pl n
a slang word for clothes

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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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

thread
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 1670s. The verb meaning "to put thread through a needle" is recorded from mid-14c.; in reference 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 mid-14c., from the notion of "having the nap worn off," leaving bare the threads.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

threads definition


  1. n.
    clothing. : When'd you get new threads, man?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
As you can see by all these threads, religion is different to any and all who
  believe.
The threads descend into tastelessness more often than not.
Furthermore all the vibrios, which crowded the liquid as motile threads, are
  destroyed and disappear.
The iPod plugs into one end and the headphone cable threads around the loop to
  exit at the other end.
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