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

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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

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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

Why write an entire article when I can dash off a quick thread and gain hundreds of likes?

From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026

Mr. Smith’s protagonist is Mignon Langnas, whose letters and diaries provide a human thread in a notably inhumane tapestry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

"That's maybe a common thread of these films, is that they're not just holding wealth for themselves, but also their products don't seem to be very good for society," Tyree said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026

Everything connects, but he is always the common thread.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

My eyes snap up from the loose thread I’m fiddling with to meet hers.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

The spiral's shape determines how it responds to this flow, similar to the difference between screws with right- or left-handed threads.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026

Chatbots also "put the wrong words in the mouths of candidates, officials, and observers hundreds of times" and frequently cited "poor quality" sources, such as Reddit threads, Forum AI said.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

The firm says screenshots of text threads have been used as evidence.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

For all its length, the film leaves some threads only partly explored.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Ilya stopped a few feet away from it, then held his hands up, plucking at threads.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

“We’re bringing all those disparate AI-power moments for the customer into one really elegant single threaded conversational assistant,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

The first was a low-velocity ground ball threaded up the middle to drive in a run.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

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

"You see?" she said, as she threaded a strip of the skin through one of the needles they had made.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

Planets and stars generate their own fields, but gaps in our understanding emerge when we attempt to explain the much larger scale magnetic fields threading galaxies and clusters, and possibly even cosmic voids.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026

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

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

Poehler is uniquely skilled at threading the needle.

From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2026

“But to use the knowledge of the threading, you must learn the making of the shades. When to sadden with the iron pot. How to bloom the colors. How to bleed.”

From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry

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Related Words

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

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