packthread
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of packthread
First recorded in 1300–50, packthread is from the Middle English word pakthrede. See pack 1, thread
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A rowel is to be made in the dewlap by taking a skein of hemp, tow, or twisted packthread, a foot long, and as thick as a man's thumb.
From On the cattle plague: or, Contagious typhus in horned cattle. Its history, origin, description, and treatment by Bourguignon, Honor?
Tie each separately with packthread, and let them stew together with good broth; no salt or pepper, on account of the bacon.
From The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory; In Which will Be Found a Large Collection of Original Receipts. 3rd ed. by Bury, Charlotte Campbell, Lady
He got a needle and some packthread and sat down on the afterhatch and suddenly made up his mind to do his best.
From The Sailor by Snaith, J. C.
The ropes parted like packthread; the building slewed round, reeled for a moment with a drunken air, caught on a shallow spot, and hung there.
From The Red Man's Revenge A Tale of The Red River Flood by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)
The wind had been blowing strong from the south-east all the morning; and a gust of it caught the Elba's stern, and canted it suddenly round, when the small cable snapped like a packthread.
From Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. by Forester, Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
