thread

American  

[thred] / θrɛd /

noun

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)

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)

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

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

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

Example Sentences

The absence of those elements here makes “Hamnet” simply derivative; a loose thread, grabbed swiftly and pulled hard in the hopes that the audience will be undone.

From Salon

Elsewhere, glass in the shape of biological masses is covered in delicate wire and thread, looking like the oversize results from lumpectomies.

From The Wall Street Journal

DOGE’s work triggered at least 20 significant court cases that are trying to thread the needles of authority.

From The Wall Street Journal

This is the moment where so many Thanksgiving tables lose the thread.

From Salon

It was just that their lives had kind of crossed over a line into the margins, just by a thread.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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