yarn
Americannoun
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thread made of natural or synthetic fibers and used for knitting and weaving.
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a continuous strand or thread made from glass, metal, plastic, etc.
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the thread, in the form of a loosely twisted aggregate of fibers, as of hemp, of which rope is made rope yarn.
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a tale, especially a long story of adventure or incredible happenings.
He spun a yarn that outdid any I had ever heard.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a continuous twisted strand of natural or synthetic fibres, used in weaving, knitting, etc
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informal a long and often involved story or account, usually telling of incredible or fantastic events
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informal
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to tell such a story
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to make up or relate a series of excuses
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verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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yarnsimple
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yarnssimple
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have yarnedperfect
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has yarnedperfect
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am yarningprogressive
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are yarningprogressive
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is yarningprogressive
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have been yarningperfect progressive
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has been yarningperfect progressive
Past
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yarnedsimple
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had yarnedperfect
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was yarningprogressive
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were yarningprogressive
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had been yarningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yarn
before 1000; Middle English; Old English gearn; cognate with German Garn; akin to Old Norse gǫrn gut, Greek chordḗ intestine, chord 1, Lithuanian žarnà entrails, Latin hernia a rupture, Sanskrit hirā vein
Explanation
If you want to knit a hat, you're going to need yarn, the thick string made of twisted threads that's used to make sweaters, scarves, socks and other knitted things. Yarn is made from fibers, and it comes in many colors. When you knit, you weave yarn with needles and end up with a pot holder or a pair of mittens. Another kind of yarn is a long story that's told out loud. You might, in fact, tell your friend a yarn while you crochet an afghan with yarn. The Old English root word, gearn, means "spun fibers," but it comes from the Proto-Indo-European ghere, or "intestine."
Vocabulary lists containing yarn
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
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The Season of Styx Malone
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Stories of Ourselves
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His two-star review said the remake feels "so pointless" when the original film was "a fun, funny, poignant coming-of-age yarn with fantastic music and a winning Polynesian spin on the Disney Princess template".
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
But he does have an opinion on how to spin a good yarn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Other recent events have focused on “lost arts,” including sewing, knitting and jewelry making, in which Edenwald residents have offered instruction and bins of yarn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
Inside, there’s a great mix of yarn, art supplies, and classes if you’re feeling inspired.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 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
Coppola’s use of archival footage brings Jacobs’ yarns to life.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2026
Kelbourne Woolens, for one, delayed the release of two new yarns Kelley had hoped to launch this year because of the trade uncertainty.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
Works such as “Treasure Island” and “Kidnapped,” still read today, exemplify the Scottish author’s gift for yarns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Other knitters won’t be so dedicated, and either turn to lower-quality, less sustainable yarns like acrylic or polyester, or get priced out of the hobby entirely.
From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2025
They traded their yarns and cloth and tapestries for grain and potatoes and carrots and onions.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
As usually happens when I sit down with Marlow, we yarned.
From Time Magazine Archive
Returning to that indeterminate East of which he has often yarned before, Author Maugham spins a tale that in less sardonic hands would be a melodrama.
From Time Magazine Archive
Our men in their trenches were cleaning rifles, packing away spare kit, yarning there much as they yarned of old over the stockyard fence or the gate of the horse paddock.
From Letters from France by Bean, C. E. W. (Charles Edwin Woodrow)
He sang and he yarned time about—the songs for the children, the yarns for us.
From The Island of Gold A Sailor's Yarn by Stables, Gordon
He was a storehouse of tales of political intrigue, and yarned till near midnight on the deck as we slid through the phosphorescent sea.
From Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle by Durham, M. E. (Mary Edith)
It’s like a late-night D&M with a mate – only the mate is Nick Cave and we’re yarning with the lights up amid a cast of thousands.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 8, 2019
None surpasses the Sage of Burwash at yarning in dialects of all sorts.
From Time Magazine Archive
Whether yarning with a novice or pro, avoid the skippers with the worst sea stories.
From Time Magazine Archive
While Thomas was yarning and clowning, he kept sternly to his poet's vocation.
From Time Magazine Archive
Oh, well," Mr. Armitage said after they had been talking for a long time, "it's great sitting here yarning with you chaps.
From The Black Opal by Prichard, Katharine Susannah
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
