thread

American  

[thred] / θrɛd /

noun

• threads
  plural

1. a fine cord of flax, cotton, or other fibrous material spun out to considerable length, especially when composed of two or more filaments twisted together.

2. twisted filaments or fibers of any kind used for sewing.

3. one of the lengths of yarn forming the warp or weft of a woven fabric.

4. a filament or fiber of glass or other ductile substance.

5. Ropemaking.

   1. any of a number of fibers twisted into a yarn.

   2. a yarn, especially as enumerated in describing small stuff.

6. something having the fineness or slenderness of a filament, as a thin continuous stream of liquid, a fine line of color, or a thin seam of ore.

   a thread of smoke.

7. the helical ridge of a screw.

8. that which runs through the whole course of something, connecting successive parts.

   I lost the thread of the story.

9. something conceived as being spun or continuously drawn out, as the course of life fabled to be spun, measured, and cut by the Fates.

10. Digital Technology. a series of posts and responses on a message board or electronic mailing list that deal with the same subject and are grouped together.

11. Slang. threads, clothes.

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verb (used with object)

• threads,
  present (3rd person singular)
• threaded,
  past participle,  past
• threading
  present participle

1. to pass the end of a thread through the eye of (a needle).

2. to fix (beads, pearls, etc.) upon a thread that is passed through; string.

3. to pass continuously through the whole course of (something); pervade.

   A joyous quality threaded the whole symphony.

4. to make one's way through (a narrow passage, forest, crowd, etc.).

5. to make (one's way) thus.

   He threaded his way through the crowd.

6. to form a thread on or in (a bolt, hole, etc.).

7. to place and arrange thread, yarn, etc., in position on (a sewing machine, loom, textile machine, etc.).

8. to remove (facial hair, especially eyebrow hair) by using a looped and twisted thread to roll over the hair and lift it from the follicles.

verb (used without object)

• threads,
  present (3rd person singular)
• threaded,
  past participle,  past
• threading
  present participle

1. to thread one's way, as through a passage or between obstacles.

   They threaded carefully along the narrow pass.

2. to move in a threadlike course; wind or twine.

3. Cooking. (of boiling syrup) to form a fine thread when poured from a spoon.

4. to remove facial hair, especially from the eyebrows, by using a looped and twisted thread.

thread British  

/ θrɛd /

noun

1. a fine strand, filament or fibre of some material

2. a fine cord of twisted filaments, esp of cotton, used in sewing, weaving, etc

3. any of the filaments of which a spider's web is made

4. any fine line, stream, mark, or piece

   from the air, the path was a thread of white

5. a helical groove in a cylindrical hole ( female thread ), formed by a tap or lathe tool, or a helical ridge on a cylindrical bar, rod, shank, etc ( male thread ), formed by a die or lathe tool

6. a very thin seam of coal or vein of ore

7. something acting as the continuous link or theme of a whole

   the thread of the story

8. the course of an individual's life believed in Greek mythology to be spun, measured, and cut by the Fates

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verb

1. (tr) to pass (thread, film, magnetic tape, etc) through (something)

   to thread a needle

   to thread cotton through a needle

2. (tr) to string on a thread

   she threaded the beads

3. to make (one's way) through or over (something)

4. (tr) to produce a screw thread by cutting, rolling, tapping, or grinding

5. (tr) to pervade

   hysteria threaded his account

6. (intr) (of boiling syrup) to form a fine thread when poured from a spoon

thread Idioms  

1. see hang by a thread; lose the thread.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• threader
  noun
• misthread
  verb
• rethread
  verb
• self-threading
  adjective
• threadless
  adjective
• threadlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• threads
  plural

Participles

• threading
  present
• threaded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• thread
  simple
• threads
  simple
• have threaded
  perfect
• has threaded
  perfect
• am threading
  progressive
• are threading
  progressive
• is threading
  progressive
• have been threading
  perfect progressive
• has been threading
  perfect progressive

Past

• threaded
  simple
• had threaded
  perfect
• was threading
  progressive
• were threading
  progressive
• had been threading
  perfect progressive

Future

• will thread
  simple
• will have threaded
  perfect
• will be threading
  progressive
• will have been threading
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of thread

before 900; (noun) Middle English threed, Old English thrǣd; cognate with Dutch draad, German Draht, Old Norse thrathr wire; (v.) Middle English threeden, derivative of the noun See throw

Explanation

Thread is a length of twisted fibers (usually three strands together), made from cotton, silk, or other material, that can be used in sewing, quilting, embroidery, and other handicrafts. The noun thread can also be used figuratively to refer to different parts of something, like thoughts or a conversation, that are connected as if joined by thread. If you were distracted by a crash in the kitchen, you might lose the thread of your conversation. Thread can also refer to the raised ridge on the outside of a screw or bolt, and you can use thread as a verb when you mean to string or to pass a thread through a needle.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thread threads threaded threading

"The harvest is hanging by a thread," he told AFP from his vineyard in the village of Spay, looking out over the Rhine and hills scorched a deep brown by the heat.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

"For the people that really love my music, they see the common thread, separately of those external things, of really vulnerable writing, which is what I always try and lead with," he explains.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

In one Reddit thread about the jury-duty scam, a number of people describe being duped.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

There is no common thread in the U.S. government’s acquisition of these stakes beyond a broad “economic and national security” umbrella.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

She forces a chuckle and picks at a stray thread on her shirt.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Elsewhere, hopeful buyers in Reddit and Facebook threads are directed to online marketplaces, including for more expensive bulk purchases.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

The results introduce a new way to "match the threads" between light and matter.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

But those threads are waiting to be unspooled on your own trip to Hollywood via the silver screen.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

It’s time to merge the disparate threads into a single comprehensive story—one that people won’t forget.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

Some would say one of the machines, badly in need of grease, cast the first spark on the dried threads and cotton.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

So, on Sept. 25, 1974, Jobe took a tendon from John’s right arm, threaded it through holes he had drilled in John’s left elbow and hoped it all would work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Researchers have now shown that specially shaped light can act as a similar type of threaded probe, interacting differently with molecules depending on their handedness.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

He threaded his drive through the fairway bunkers to give himself a good look at the green.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Absorbed students carefully threaded wires into junction boxes to make circuits connected to lights, bulbs flickering on one by one to signal a job well done.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

We stood near the side table, which was loaded with mountains of food, from a whole roast hart with ivy threaded through its antlers to butter cookies as small and lacy as snowflakes.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

But it isn’t clear whether threading that needle is possible if Siri AI is a runaway hit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

The results showed that magnetic fields threading through the surrounding gas can help draw protostars closer together.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026

“It’s an exciting job threading the needle multiple times,” said Robert Navarro, project manager at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., which is in charge of the critical third segment of the relay.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

Poehler is uniquely skilled at threading the needle.

From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2026

She was bending over her old treadle Singer sewing machine, threading a bobbin.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• cord
• cotton
• fiber
• filament
• hair
• ribbon
• strand
• string
• wire
• wool
• yarn