01 n. A very small twist of flax, wool, cotton, silk, or other fibrous substance, drawn out to considerable length; a compound cord consisting of…
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1.
A very small twist of flax, wool, cotton, silk, or other fibrous substance, drawn out to considerable length; a compound cord consisting of two or more single yarns doubled, or joined together, and twisted; also, one fiber of a cord composed of multiple fibers.
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2.
A filament of any substance, as of glass, gold or silver; a filamentous part of an object, such as a flower; a component fiber of any or of any fibrous substance, as of bark.
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4.
Something continued in a long course or tenor; a recurrent theme or related sequence of events in a larger story; as the thread of a story, or of life, or of a discourse.(Fig.)
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5.
Fig.: Composition; quality; fineness.[Obs.]“A neat courtier, Of a most elegant thread.” — B. Jonson.
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6.
A related sequence of instructions or actions within a program that runs at least in part independent of other actions within the program; -- such threads are capable of being executed only in oprating systems permittnig multitasking.(Computers)
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7.
A sequence of messages posted to an on-line newsgroup or discussion group, dealing with the same topic; -- messages in such a thread typically refer to a previous posting, thus allowing their identification as part of the thread. Some news-reading programs allow a user to follow a single such thread independent of the other postings to that newsgroup.(Computers)
Phrases & compounds
Air thread —
the fine white filaments which are seen floating in the air in summer, the production of spiders; gossamer.
Thread and thrum —
the good and bad together.
Thread cell —
a lasso cell. See under Lasso.
Thread herring —
the gizzard shad. See under Gizzard.
Thread lace —
lace made of linen thread.
Thread needle —
a game in which children stand in a row, joining hands, and in which the outer one, still holding his neighbor, runs between the others; -- called also thread the needle.