THREAD

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does thread mean? 

• THREAD (noun)
  The noun THREAD has 4 senses:

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

2. any long object resembling a thin line

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

4. the raised helical rib going around a screw

  Familiarity information: THREAD used as a noun is uncommon.

• THREAD (verb)
  The verb THREAD has 5 senses:

1. to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course

2. pass a thread through

3. remove facial hair by tying a fine string around it and pulling at the string

4. pass through or into

5. thread on or as if on a string

  Familiarity information: THREAD used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THREAD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

thread; yarn

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"):

cotton (thread made of cotton fibers)

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)

Derivation:

thread (thread on or as if on a string)

thread (pass a thread through)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any long object resembling a thin line

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

ribbon; thread

Context example:

a thread of smoke climbed upward

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)

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

thread; train of thought

Context example:

he lost the thread of his argument

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:

The raised helical rib going around a screw

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

screw thread; thread

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)

• THREAD (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

meander; thread; wander; weave; wind

Context example:

sometimes, the gout wanders through the entire body

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Pass a thread through

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

thread a needle

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 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

She had her eyebrows threaded

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 through or into

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

thread film

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

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

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Thread on or as if on a string

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

draw; string; thread

Context example:

thread dried cranberries

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)

 Context examples 

The thread of argument slipped from her.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It is the murder that we are really investigating, and I tell you that I am gathering all the threads into my hands.

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

I saw that she was parting in the middle, and that the life of the solitary man upon the mast hung by a thread.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

You can find many options, too many to list, and so consider this idea, for you can weave a beautiful memory with golden threads.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The cells also produced high levels of modified tau, which formed threads in the 3-D culture.

(Human Cells Model Alzheimer’s Disease, NIH)

It was a sight to see how my uncle threaded his way amongst them all.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Different threads, but leading up to the same tangle.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A thin, flexible tube that is inserted into a vein in the upper arm and guided (threaded) into a large vein near the heart called the vena cava.

(Peripherally inserted central catheter, NCI Dictionary)

These threads are proposed as prizes for those persons whom the emperor has a mind to distinguish by a peculiar mark of his favour.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

My ear, too, felt the flow of currents; in what dales and depths I could not tell: but there were many hills beyond Hay, and doubtless many becks threading their passes.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)