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thread

Syllabification: (thread)
Pronunciation: /THred/

Translate thread | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of thread

noun

  • 1a long, thin strand of cotton, nylon, or other fibers used in sewing or weaving.
  • cotton, nylon, or other fibers spun into long, thin strands and used for sewing.
  • (threads) informal clothes.
  • 2a thing resembling a thread in length or thinness, in particular.
  • chiefly literary a long, thin line or piece of something:the river was a thread of silver below them
  • a theme or characteristic, typically forming one of several, running throughout a situation or piece of writing:a common thread running through the scandals was the failure to conduct audits
  • 3a group of linked messages posted on an Internet forum that share a common subject or theme.
  • a programming structure or process formed by linking a number of separate elements or subroutines, especially each of the tasks executed concurrently in multithreading.
  • 4 (also screw thread) a helical ridge on the outside of a screw, bolt, etc., or on the inside of a cylindrical hole, to allow two parts to be screwed together.

verb

[with object]
  • 1pass a thread through the eye of (a needle) or through the needle and guides of (a sewing machine).
  • pass (a long, thin object or piece of material) through something and into the required position for use:he threaded the rope through a pulley
  • [no object] move carefully or skillfully in and out of obstacles:she threaded her way through the tables
  • interweave or intersperse as if with threads:his hair had become ill-kempt and threaded with gray
  • put (beads, chunks of food, or other small objects) together or singly on a thread, chain, or skewer that runs through the center of each one:Connie sat threading beads
  • 2 (usually as adjective threaded) cut a screw thread in or on (a hole, screw, or other object).

Phrases

hang by a thread

be in a highly precarious state.

lose the (or one's) thread

be unable to follow what someone is saying or remember what one is going to say next.

Derivatives

threadlike

Pronunciation: /-ˌlīk/

adjective

Origin:

Old English thrǣd (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch draad and German Draht, also to the verb throw. The verb dates from late Middle English

thread in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of thread in the British & World English dictionary