skein

American  

[skeyn] / skeɪn /

noun

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 British  

/ skeɪn /

noun

1. a length of yarn, etc, wound in a long coil

2. something resembling this, such as a lock of hair

3. a flock of geese flying Compare gaggle

---

Etymology

Origin of skein

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English skeyne, skayne, from Middle French escaigne; further origin unknown

Example Sentences

Within minutes of waking, the tangle of problems that had flummoxed Penelope so thoroughly the previous evening had somehow sorted themselves into neat skeins of wool, as it were.

From Literature

Chilton often patrols his ranch, driving with a gun over skeins of dirt roads.

From Los Angeles Times

But the operatic plot is a skein that sometimes entangles its colorful character and other times leaves them panting with exhaustion.

From Los Angeles Times

It starts with a spark, created from an organ called a skein that previously lay dormant, that gives girls, and then women, the power to electrocute at will.

From Los Angeles Times

The legal debate is just one skein in the tangle of moral, political and economic concerns that the potential seizure of Russia’s reserves poses.

From New York Times

Related Words

• knot