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

This aspect mirrors a frightening contemporary pattern reflected in the Cornell case, in which an alleged Snapchat thread from the Chi Phi house is presented as evidence.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

The French government defended on Thursday its plans to cut spending and raise taxes as it tries to thread the needle between jittery debt markets and public discontent over the rising cost of living.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

The two unions sent out a message to staff earlier warning the fire and rehire policy might be introduced, and saying the extra money was now "hanging by a thread."

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

As Pawel puts it: “Unravel any thread of modern California history, and eventually it leads back to the University.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

She did not want me to spin, and now I realized it wasn’t because I couldn’t do it, but because I could spin more than thread or yarn.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

It also threads throughout a few clever nods to Bob Dylan, though how that element fits into the whole I’ve yet to fully figure out—just the kind of lingering headscratcher this festival excels at.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

For Weber and Finger, the chance to tie the disparate threads they discuss on “Who? Weekly” was a major incentive to work on their book.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

That ability to hold seemingly opposing ideas at once became one of the most compelling threads running through the festival.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

They followed those threads to Facebook groups and Telegram channels.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

"They're green—the same color as those woolly threads we found!"

From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene

The ’90s-era nihilism that threaded so many of Araki’s films has taken a hard slant toward technological despondency.

From Salon ● Jul. 31, 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

But threaded through the movie is another story, well-suited to the director’s dry and self-effacing sense of humor, of Hollywood producers interested in remaking “Sherman’s March” as a fiction feature.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 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

I feed her the right words, but she suspects they’re threaded with hooks.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

“It’s on its side and the mirror image. So it runs backwards to what would be sort of a logical assumption of its threading pattern.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

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

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026

Fury upped the tempo in the latter rounds, varying his attack and threading in several uppercuts, but Makhmudov absorbed them without ever really being shaken.

From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026

In the current crisis, “he is really threading this needle,” Phelps said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

She watched the cars crawling up Chicken Street, threading through the horde of hawkers and pedestrians, honking at children and donkeys who wouldn’t move.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

Related Words

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