Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Thread

Thread

(thrĕd)
,
Noun.
[OE.
threed
,
þred
, AS.
þrǣd
; akin to D.
draad
, G.
draht
wire, thread, OHG.
drāt
, Icel.
þrāðr
a thread, Sw.
tråd
, Dan.
traad
, and AS.
þrāwan
to twist. See
Throw
, and cf.
Third
.]
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.
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.
3.
The prominent part of the spiral of a screw or nut; the rib. See
Screw
,
Noun.
, 1.
4.
(Fig.)
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
.
Bp. Burnet.
5.
Fig.: Composition; quality; fineness.
[Obs.]
A neat courtier,
Of a most elegant
thread
.
B. Jonson.
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.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Thread cell
(Zool.)
,
a lasso cell. See under
Lasso
.
Thread herring
(Zool.)
,
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
.

Thread

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Threaded
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Threading
.]
1.
To pass a thread through the eye of;
as, to
thread
a needle
.
2.
To pass or pierce through as a narrow way; also, to effect or make, as one’s way, through or between obstacles; to thrid.
Heavy trading ships . . .
threading
the Bosphorus.
Mitford.
They would not
thread
the gates.
Shakespeare
3.
To form a thread, or spiral rib, on or in;
as, to
thread
a screw or nut
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Thread

THREAD


Definition 2024


Thread

Thread

See also: thread

German

Noun

Thread m

  1. (computing) thread (unit of execution)
  2. (Internet) thread (series of messages)

thread

thread

See also: Thread

English

Noun

thread (plural threads)

  1. A long, thin and flexible form of material, generally with a round cross-section, used in sewing, weaving or in the construction of string.
    • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
      He walked. To the corner of Hamilton Place and Picadilly, and there stayed for a while, for it is a romantic station by night. The vague and careless rain looked like threads of gossamer silver passing across the light of the arc-lamps.
  2. A theme or idea.
    All of these essays have a common thread.
    I’ve lost the thread of what you’re saying.
  3. (engineering) A **** thread.
  4. A sequence of connections.
    • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XVIII:
      I was pondering these things, when an incident, and a somewhat unexpected one, broke the thread of my musings.
    • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Chapter 21:
      ‘Let him go on. Do not interrupt him. He cannot go back, and maybe could not proceed at all if once he lost the thread of his thought.’
  5. The line midway between the banks of a stream.
  6. (computing) A unit of execution, lighter in weight than a process, usually sharing memory and other resources with other threads executing concurrently.
  7. (Internet) A series of messages, generally grouped by subject, in which all messages except the first are replies to previous messages in the thread.
  8. A filament, as of a flower, or of any fibrous substance, as of bark.
  9. (figuratively) Composition; quality; fineness.
    • Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
      A neat courtier, / Of a most elegant thread.

Synonyms

Translations

Derived terms

Verb

thread (third-person singular simple present threads, present participle threading, simple past threaded or (archaic) thrid, past participle threaded or (archaic) thridden)

  1. (transitive) To put thread through.
    thread a needle
  2. (transitive) To pass (through a narrow constriction or around a series of obstacles).
    I think I can thread my way through here, but it’s going to be tight.
    • 2013, Ben Smith, "", BBC Sport, 19 October 2013:
      Picking the ball up in his own half, Januzaj threaded a 40-yard pass into the path of Rooney to slice Southampton open in the blink of an eye.
  3. To **** on, to fit the threads of a nut on a bolt

Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams

See also


Italian

Etymology

From English thread

Noun

thread m (invariable)

  1. (Internet) thread (series of messages)

Portuguese

Noun

thread m (plural threads)

  1. (computing) thread (one of several units of execution running concurrently)