yarn

American  

[yahrn] / yɑrn /

noun

1. thread made of natural or synthetic fibers and used for knitting and weaving.

2. a continuous strand or thread made from glass, metal, plastic, etc.

3. the thread, in the form of a loosely twisted aggregate of fibers, as of hemp, of which rope is made rope yarn.

4. a tale, especially a long story of adventure or incredible happenings.

   He spun a yarn that outdid any I had ever heard.

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verb (used without object)

1. Informal. to spin a yarn; tell stories.

yarn British  

/ jɑːn /

noun

1. a continuous twisted strand of natural or synthetic fibres, used in weaving, knitting, etc

2. informal a long and often involved story or account, usually telling of incredible or fantastic events

3. informal

   1. to tell such a story

   2. to make up or relate a series of excuses

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verb

1. (intr) to tell such a story or stories

yarn Idioms  

1. see spin a yarn.

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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

Example Sentences

Shadows spooled from the breaking surf, and it reminded Danny of the basket of yarn that Mrs. Garner kept in the living room out of reach from the twins.

From Literature

I stayed home and I learned and I had more fun than a kitten with twenty balls of yarn and three pretend mice.

From Literature

Placing Tiamat's skins one on top of the other, he rolled them up, then tied the crinkly red bundle with a strand of yarn he had found in his mother's knitting bag.

From Literature

Thought to be made from a cattle femur, this decorated Anglo-Saxon spindle whorl, used to provide weight while spinning yarn, was unearthed from farmland near Bishopstone, Buckinghamshire.

From BBC

Brown partnered with Slater, who was as good as his word, improving on the Arkwright model and turning out yarn that his old master in Derbyshire—to whom Slater sent a sample—labeled excellent.

From Barron's

Related Words

• fleece
• thread
• wool