string

American  

[string] / strɪŋ /

noun

• strings
  plural

1. a slender cord or thick thread used for binding or tying; line.

2. something resembling a cord or thread.

3. Also called cosmic string. Physics. a mathematical entity used to represent elementary particles, as gravitons, quarks, or leptons, in terms of a small but finite stringlike object existing in the four dimensions of spacetime and in additional, hypothetical, spacelike dimensions. The theory of such objects string theory avoids the many mathematical difficulties that arise from treating particles as points.

4. a narrow strip of flexible material, as cloth or leather, for tying parts together.

   the strings of a bonnet.

5. a necklace consisting of a number of beads, pearls, or the like threaded or strung on a cord; strand.

   She wore a double string of pearls.

6. any series of things arranged or connected in a line or following closely one after another: a string of questions.

   a string of islands;

   a string of questions.

7. a series of railroad cars coupled together but not constituting an entire train.

8. Journalism. a compilation of clippings of a stringer's published writings, submitted in request of payment according to an agreed space rate.

9. a group of animals, especially saddle horses, owned or used by one person.

   a string of polo ponies.

10. (in a musical instrument) a tightly stretched cord or wire that produces a tone when caused to vibrate, as by plucking, striking, or friction of a bow.

11. strings,

    1. stringed instruments, especially those played with a bow.

    2. players on such instruments in an orchestra or band.

12. a bowstring.

13. a cord or fiber in a plant.

14. the tough piece uniting the two parts of a pod.

    the strings of beans.

15. Architecture.

    1. a stringcourse.

    2. Also called stringer. one of the sloping sides of a stair, supporting the treads and risers.

16. Computers, Linguistics. a linear sequence of symbols, words, characters, or bits that is treated as a unit.

17. Billiards, Pool.

    1. a stroke made by each player from the head of the table to the opposite cushion and back, to determine, by means of the resultant positions of the cue balls, who shall open the game.

    2. Also called string line. a line from behind which the cue ball is placed after being out of play.

18. a complement of contestants or players grouped as a squad in accordance with their skill.

    He made the second string on the football team.

19. Usually strings conditions or limitations on a proposal.

    a generous offer with no strings attached.

20. Obsolete. a ligament, nerve, or the like in an animal body.

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verb (used with object)

• strings,
  present (3rd person singular)
• strung,
  past participle,  past
• stringed,
  past
• stringing
  present participle

1. to furnish with or as with a string or strings: to string a bow.

   to string a bonnet;

   to string a bow.

2. to extend or stretch (a cord, thread, etc.) from one point to another.

3. to thread on or as on a string.

   to string beads.

4. to connect in or as in a line; arrange in a series or succession.

   She knows how to string words together.

5. Music.

   1. to adjust the string of (a bow) or tighten the strings of (a musical instrument) to the required pitch.

   2. to equip (a bow or instrument) with new strings.

6. to provide or adorn with something suspended or slung.

   a room strung with festoons.

7. to deprive of a string or strings; strip the strings from.

   to string beans.

8. to make tense, as the sinews, nerves, mind, etc.

9. to kill by hanging (usually followed byup ).

10. Slang. to fool or hoax.

verb (used without object)

• strings,
  present (3rd person singular)
• strung,
  past participle,  past
• stringed,
  past
• stringing
  present participle

1. to form into or move in a string or series.

   The ideas string together coherently.

2. to form into a string or strings, as a glutinous substance does when pulled.

   Good taffy doesn't break—it strings.

3. lag. Billiards, Pool. to strike a cue ball to determine the order of play.

verb phrase

1. string along

   1. to be in agreement; follow with confidence.

      He found he couldn't string along with all their modern notions.

   2. to keep (a person) waiting or in a state of uncertainty.

   3. to deceive; cheat; trick.

2. string out

   1. to extend; stretch out.

      The parade strung out for miles.

   2. to prolong.

      The promised three days strung out to six weeks.

idioms

1. pull strings / wires,

   1. to use one's influence or authority, usually in secret, in order to bring about a desired result.

   2. to gain or attempt to gain one's objectives by means of influential friends, associates, etc..

      He had his uncle pull strings to get him a promotion.

2. on a / the string, subject to the whim of another; in one's power; dependent.

   After keeping me on a string for two months, they finally hired someone else.

string British  

/ strɪŋ /

noun

1. a thin length of cord, twine, fibre, or similar material used for tying, hanging, binding, etc

2. a group of objects threaded on a single strand

   a string of beads

3. a series or succession of things, events, acts, utterances, etc

   a string of oaths

4. a number, chain, or group of similar things, animals, etc, owned by or associated with one person or body

   a string of girlfriends

5. a tough fibre or cord in a plant

   the string of an orange

   the string of a bean

6. music a tightly stretched wire, cord, etc, found on stringed instruments, such as the violin, guitar, and piano

7. short for bowstring

8. architect short for string course stringer

9. maths linguistics a sequence of symbols or words

10. linguistics a linear sequence, such as a sentence as it is spoken

11. physics a one-dimensional entity postulated to be a fundamental component of matter in some theories of particle physics See also cosmic string

12. billiards another word for lag 1

13. a group of characters that can be treated as a unit by a computer program

14. (plural) complications or conditions (esp in the phrase no strings attached )

15. (modifier) composed of stringlike strands woven in a large mesh

    a string bag

    string vest

16. to have control or a hold over (a person), esp emotionally

17. informal to exert personal influence, esp secretly or unofficially

18. to have real or ultimate control of something

19. a person or thing regarded as a secondary source of strength

20. (plural)

    1. violins, violas, cellos, and double basses collectively

    2. the section of a symphony orchestra constituted by such instruments

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verb

1. (tr) to provide with a string or strings

2. (tr) to suspend or stretch from one point to another

3. (tr) to thread on a string

4. (tr) to form or extend in a line or series

5. (foll by out) to space or spread out at intervals

6. informal to kill (a person) by hanging

7. (tr) to remove the stringy parts from (vegetables, esp beans)

8. (intr) (esp of viscous liquids) to become stringy or ropey

9. to cause to be tense or nervous

10. billiards another word for lag 1

string More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing string

• harp on (one string)
• no strings attached
• on a shoestring
• on a string
• pull strings
• purse strings
• tied to apron strings
• two strings to one's bow

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• restring
  verb
• stringless
  adjective
• stringlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• strings
  plural

Participles

• stringing
  present
• strung
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• string
  simple
• strings
  simple
• have strung
  perfect
• has strung
  perfect
• am stringing
  progressive
• are stringing
  progressive
• is stringing
  progressive
• have been stringing
  perfect progressive
• has been stringing
  perfect progressive

Past

• stringed
  simple
• strung
  simple
• had strung
  perfect
• was stringing
  progressive
• were stringing
  progressive
• had been stringing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will string
  simple
• will have strung
  perfect
• will be stringing
  progressive
• will have been stringing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of string

First recorded before 900; (for the noun) Middle English string, streng, Old English streng; cognate with Dutch streng, German Strang, Old Norse strengr; akin to Latin stringere “to bind, tie”; (for the verb) late Middle English stringen “to string a bow,” derivative of the noun; see stringent ( def. )

Explanation

A string is a strand of fiber that's thinner than a cord or a rope. You can tie on a Halloween mask with a string, or weave a friendship bracelet with a bunch of colorful strings. Strings are useful for tying up packages and cinching the waist of your sweatpants. You can also have a figurative string, a series or sequence: "Our team had a string of wins." As a verb, string means "attach together" or "thread onto a string." It can also mean "put strings on an instrument" — you might string your new ukulele, for example. And when you "string someone along," you mislead them on purpose over and over again.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

string strings stringed strung stringing

The report includes a string of case studies which highlight areas of concern, such as the variation of service provision depending on where people live.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

As the city contends with a string of challenges—declining snowfall and plummeting real-estate sales among them—it is the runway reconstruction that has become one of the hottest-button topics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Ortiz and six other spy-saboteurs, “their hands and faces already darkened by the unyielding sun, donned gandouras and turbans—what the famed T.E. Lawrence dubbed ‘Arab kit’—mounted a string of camels and rode south.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

I grab a string of balloons and wrap them around Matt, spinning him in circles on the dance floor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

My socks squelch with each step in my new boots, earning a string of cringes.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Instead of the smooth, narrow tubes commonly drawn extending from nerve cells, some axons resemble strings of tiny pearls.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

"I made too many errors when I had the ball there on my strings."

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Butler said the best cat toys are the ones that offer a reward, like wands with strings, balls and catnip kicker toys.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Martin Blunt, a small company that manufactures strings for muscial instruments in the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires, has had to shift to a four-day week in the face of falling demand.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

“Grandpa,” I said, “what are all of those strings and rings for?”

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Meanwhile, Black Americans enslaved on plantations were using homemade instruments such as stringed gourds to produce music with complex rhythms influenced by African traditions, which would later develop into blues and jazz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026

Robert Hilton, a retired art teacher with an interest in African and Indian music, would wander over with a lute-like stringed instrument, or one of his other homemade instruments, to provide the entertainment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025

Other works going under the hammer include the Landscape Sculpture, which looks like a stringed instrument, the brass sculpture Maquette For Winged Figure, and an oil and pencil work called Atlantic Form, Blue.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2024

Two inmates were granted leave to see the concert featuring 14 prison-made stringed instruments playing a program that included works by Bach and Vivaldi.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024

The royal orchestra marches in with stringed misens and violins and cellos, and the first waltz of the evening begins.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

At Christmas, snow machines cover the grounds while lights are strung through the trees and holiday music plays all day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

Across the courtyard in another workshop a handful of PoWs are making artificial Christmas trees, gaudy baubles strung from their machines.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

What these apps do best is lay bare the ways in which our entire economy is structured like a betting app strung together by incentive perverts.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Firmly strung in a gridded pattern, squash rackets have more of an ovular shape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

I passed the house and inconspicuously parked next door, just in front of their neighbor’s fence, away from the lights strung on trees and all around the dead man’s yard.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

Official-sounding email addresses floated around, offering bookings and stringing people along before asking for large payments.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

In Nuwakot, AFP photographers on Tuesday saw people scouring through mud into the rubble of their homes for usable items, some clearing away dirt and stringing up plastic sheeting for shelter in the ruins.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

Vast periods of this play-off went by without Rangers stringing more than four and five passes together.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

In 1975, he became a trainee cable installer, climbing poles and stringing cables.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

Practice stringing them together in ways that make sense to you, but are different from what you've heard.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Related Words

• chain
• line
• row
• sequence
• strand