Library / English Dictionary

THREAD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The raised helical rib going around a screw

Synonyms:

screw thread; thread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("thread" is a kind of...):

rib (support resembling the rib of an animal)

Holonyms ("thread" is a part of...):

screw (a fastener with a tapered threaded shank and a slotted head)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving

Synonyms:

thread; yarn

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("thread" is a kind of...):

cord (a line made of twisted fibers or threads)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thread"):

worsted; worsted yarn (a tightly twisted woolen yarn spun from long-staple wool)

filling; pick; weft; woof (the yarn woven across the warp yarn in weaving)

warp (yarn arranged lengthways on a loom and crossed by the woof)

tinsel (a thread with glittering metal foil attached)

suture (thread of catgut or silk or wire used by surgeons to stitch tissues together)

purl (gold or silver wire thread)

nap; pile (the yarn (as in a rug or velvet or corduroy) that stands up from the weave)

metallic (a yarn made partly or entirely of metal)

ligature (thread used by surgeons to bind a vessel (as to constrict the flow of blood))

Lastex (yarn that has an elastic core wound around with cotton or silk or nylon or rayon threads)

floss (a soft loosely twisted thread used in embroidery)

dental floss; floss (a soft thread for cleaning the spaces between the teeth)

cotton (thread made of cotton fibers)

Derivation:

thread (thread on or as if on a string)

thread (pass a thread through)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The connections that link the various parts of an event or argument together

Example:

he lost the thread of his argument

Synonyms:

thread; train of thought

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("thread" is a kind of...):

cerebration; intellection; mentation; thinking; thought; thought process (the process of using your mind to consider something carefully)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Any long object resembling a thin line

Example:

a thread of smoke climbed upward

Synonyms:

ribbon; thread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("thread" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thread"):

blade (something long and thin resembling a blade of grass)

Derivation:

thread (to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course)

thready (thin in diameter; resembling a thread)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Thread on or as if on a string

Example:

thread dried cranberries

Synonyms:

draw; string; thread

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "thread" is one way to...):

arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)

Verb group:

draw; guide; pass; run (pass over, across, or through)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "thread"):

bead (string together like beads)

wire (string on a wire)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

thread (a fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving)

threader (a blunt needle for threading ribbon through loops)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Pass through or into

Example:

thread film

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "thread" is one way to...):

draw; guide; pass; run (pass over, across, or through)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Remove facial hair by tying a fine string around it and pulling at the string

Example:

She had her eyebrows threaded

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "thread" is one way to...):

draw out; extract; pull; pull out; pull up; rip out; take out; tear out (remove, usually with some force or effort; also used in an abstract sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Pass a thread through

Example:

thread a needle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "thread" is one way to...):

draw; guide; pass; run (pass over, across, or through)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

thread (a fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving)

threader (a blunt needle for threading ribbon through loops)

Sense 5

Meaning:

To move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course

Example:

sometimes, the gout wanders through the entire body

Synonyms:

meander; thread; wander; weave; wind

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "thread" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Verb group:

wander (go via an indirect route or at no set pace)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "thread"):

snake (move along a winding path)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

thread (any long object resembling a thin line)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"I stood behind the screen and pulled a thread, to make the eyes move and the mouth open."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

It happened that soon afterwards the mother sent the two children to the town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

You can imagine, Watson, with what eagerness I listened to this extraordinary sequence of events, and endeavoured to piece them together, and to devise some common thread upon which they might all hang.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Soul and body walked or crawled side by side, yet apart, so slender was the thread that bound them.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

We watched him travel slowly inward, threading about among the harems along what must have been the path.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

There’s plenty of thread, no doubt, but I can’t get the end of it into my hand.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The use of cotton thread as a support has several advantages.

(Scientists design devices to calculate the concentration of potassium in water, of creatinine in urine, or glucose in blood using smartphone technology, University of Granada)

The determination of the number of mucous threads present in a sample.

(Mucous Thread Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

A solid in the shape of a slender, elongated thread that is designed to release active and/or inert ingredient(s) at a controlled, prolonged rate so as to reduce dosing frequency.

(Extended Release Fiber Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

A measurement of the mucous threads present in a biological specimen.

(Mucous Thread Measurement, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)