yarn

American  

[yahrn] / jɑrn /

noun

• yarns
  plural

1. thread made of natural or synthetic fibers and used for knitting and weaving.

2. a continuous strand or thread made from glass, metal, plastic, etc.

3. the thread, in the form of a loosely twisted aggregate of fibers, as of hemp, of which rope is made rope yarn.

4. a tale, especially a long story of adventure or incredible happenings.

   He spun a yarn that outdid any I had ever heard.

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verb (used without object)

• yarns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• yarned,
  past participle,  past
• yarning
  present participle

1. Informal. to spin a yarn; tell stories.

yarn British  

/ jɑːn /

noun

1. a continuous twisted strand of natural or synthetic fibres, used in weaving, knitting, etc

2. informal a long and often involved story or account, usually telling of incredible or fantastic events

3. informal

   1. to tell such a story

   2. to make up or relate a series of excuses

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verb

1. (intr) to tell such a story or stories

yarn Idioms  

1. see spin a yarn.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• yarns
  plural

Participles

• yarning
  present
• yarned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• yarn
  simple
• yarns
  simple
• have yarned
  perfect
• has yarned
  perfect
• am yarning
  progressive
• are yarning
  progressive
• is yarning
  progressive
• have been yarning
  perfect progressive
• has been yarning
  perfect progressive

Past

• yarned
  simple
• had yarned
  perfect
• was yarning
  progressive
• were yarning
  progressive
• had been yarning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will yarn
  simple
• will have yarned
  perfect
• will be yarning
  progressive
• will have been yarning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of yarn

before 1000; Middle English; Old English gearn; cognate with German Garn; akin to Old Norse gǫrn gut, Greek chordḗ intestine, chord ¹, Lithuanian žarnà entrails, Latin hernia a rupture, Sanskrit hirā vein

Explanation

If you want to knit a hat, you're going to need yarn, the thick string made of twisted threads that's used to make sweaters, scarves, socks and other knitted things. Yarn is made from fibers, and it comes in many colors. When you knit, you weave yarn with needles and end up with a pot holder or a pair of mittens. Another kind of yarn is a long story that's told out loud. You might, in fact, tell your friend a yarn while you crochet an afghan with yarn. The Old English root word, gearn, means "spun fibers," but it comes from the Proto-Indo-European ghere, or "intestine."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

yarn yarns yarned yarning

The forced-labor tariff will push duties on the yarn to 37.5%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Much of the stitched masterpiece, which is actually coloured yarn embroidered on linen rather than a woven tapestry, is currently covered up in giant polyester sheeting, to protect it from light damage.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

My reaction was this: “Not this same old yarn again.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

This is still above all a lovely, soft yarn about crime-solving farm animals, some of them voiced by Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, and the guy who plays Roy Kent on “Ted Lasso.”

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

The wool thinned and tightened and transformed into yarn, as if by magic.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

We go on a short hike while Yarvin, who looks like an ageing punk rocker, speaks in circuitous, long-winded yarns that reference esoteric texts and periods of history to prove his points.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Coppola’s use of archival footage brings Jacobs’ yarns to life.

From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2026

Kelbourne Woolens, for one, delayed the release of two new yarns Kelley had hoped to launch this year because of the trade uncertainty.

From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025

Works such as “Treasure Island” and “Kidnapped,” still read today, exemplify the Scottish author’s gift for yarns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025

The bag she carried over her shoulder was filled with colored threads and yarns that Annabella had given to her.

From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry

As usually happens when I sit down with Marlow, we yarned.

From Time Magazine Archive

Returning to that indeterminate East of which he has often yarned before, Author Maugham spins a tale that in less sardonic hands would be a melodrama.

From Time Magazine Archive

He had been a sergeant in the Canadian forces, so we sat down and yarned about old days in "Flounders."

From Over Here Impressions of America by a British officer by MacQuarrie, Hector

Some of them had gone down on their knees by the roadside, while the teamster had a drink and yarned with Steve.

From The Pioneers by Prichard, Katharine Susannah

The teamsters were not averse to boiled duck and broth for breakfast, and the two billies were soon steaming on the camp-fire, while the company yarned and smoked.

From In the Roaring Fifties by Dyson, Edward

It’s like a late-night D&M with a mate – only the mate is Nick Cave and we’re yarning with the lights up amid a cast of thousands.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 8, 2019

Stewart did his best not to brood, and Fonda helped buoy him after the day's filming by yarning, Harley-like, about the years they have spent together.

From Time Magazine Archive

But throughout runs a vein of the old, Rocky Mountain, free-&-easy Fowler yarning.

From Time Magazine Archive

In some parts it is just about the best baseball yarning since the late great Ring Lardner put the cover on his typewriter.

From Time Magazine Archive

You know it very well, and all this yarning is pure bluster.

From An Artist in Crime by Ottolengui, Rodrigues

Related Words

• fleece
• thread
• wool