skein
Americannoun
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a length of yarn or thread wound on a reel or swift preparatory for use in manufacturing.
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anything wound in or resembling such a coil.
a skein of hair.
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something suggestive of the twistings of a skein.
an incoherent skein of words.
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a flock of geese, ducks, or the like, in flight.
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a succession or series of similar or interrelated things.
a skein of tennis victories.
noun
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a length of yarn, etc, wound in a long coil
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something resembling this, such as a lock of hair
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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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The country also has developed a vibrant civil society, the skein of citizen-run, nongovernmental organizations and associations that infuse a healthy democracy with pluralism, participation and political vigor.
From Washington Post • Feb. 12, 2023
A skein of ropes is systematically assembled by the ensemble as scrolls are unrolled to illustrate the science of perspective.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2023
Her hair hung like a skein of silk, immune to humidity.
From New York Times • Mar. 5, 2022
Held in the mesh of gravity and spin, a skein of quantum magnetic charge, the Muon persists, outlives its foreseeable wobble.
From Scientific American • Feb. 5, 2022
I gathered every last skein inside my blanket and hauled it to the mill.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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.
