Result from Foreign Dictionaries (4 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Thread \Thread\ (thr[e^]d), n. [OE. threed, [thorn]red, AS. [thorn]r[=ae]d; akin to D. draad, G. draht wire, thread, OHG. dr[=a]t, Icel. [thorn]r[=a][eth]r a thread, Sw. tr[*a]d, Dan. traad, and AS. [thorn]r[=a]wan 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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 3. The prominent part of the spiral of a screw or nut; the rib. See {Screw}, n., 1. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 5. Fig.: Composition; quality; fineness. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] A neat courtier, Of a most elegant thread. --B. Jonson. [1913 Webster] 6. (Computers) 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. [PJC] 7. (Computers) 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. [PJC] {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}. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Thread \Thread\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Threaded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Threading}.] 1. To pass a thread through the eye of; as, to thread a needle. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Heavy trading ships . . . threading the Bosphorus. --Mitford. [1913 Webster] They would not thread the gates. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. To form a thread, or spiral rib, on or in; as, to thread a screw or nut. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: thread n 1: a fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving [syn: {thread}, {yarn}] 2: any long object resembling a thin line; "a mere ribbon of land"; "the lighted ribbon of traffic"; "from the air the road was a grey thread"; "a thread of smoke climbed upward" [syn: {ribbon}, {thread}] 3: the connections that link the various parts of an event or argument together; "I couldn't follow his train of thought"; "he lost the thread of his argument" [syn: {train of thought}, {thread}] 4: the raised helical rib going around a screw [syn: {screw thread}, {thread}] v 1: to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course; "the river winds through the hills"; "the path meanders through the vineyards"; "sometimes, the gout wanders through the entire body" [syn: {weave}, {wind}, {thread}, {meander}, {wander}] 2: pass a thread through; "thread a needle" 3: remove facial hair by tying a fine string around it and pulling at the string; "She had her eyebrows threaded" 4: pass through or into; "thread tape"; "thread film" 5: thread on or as if on a string; "string pearls on a string"; "the child drew glass beads on a string"; "thread dried cranberries" [syn: {string}, {thread}, {draw}] From The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003) [jargon]: thread n. [Usenet, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of topic thread, a more or less continuous chain of postings on a single topic. To follow a thread is to read a series of Usenet postings sharing a common subject or (more correctly) which are connected by Reference headers. The better newsreaders can present news in thread order automatically. Not to be confused with the techspeak sense of ?thread?, e.g. a lightweight process. Interestingly, this is far from a neologism. The OED says: ?That which connects the successive points in anything, esp. a narrative, train of thought, or the like; the sequence of events or ideas continuing throughout the whole course of anything;? Citations are given going back to 1642!