string

n. [ OE. string, streng, AS. streng; akin to D. streng, G. strang, Icel. strengr, Sw. sträng, Dan. straeng; probably from the adj., E. strong (see Strong); or perhaps originally meaning, twisted, and akin to E. strangle. ] 1. A small cord, a line, a twine, or a slender strip of leather, or other substance, used for binding together, fastening, or tying things; a cord, larger than a thread and smaller than a rope; as, a shoe string; a bonnet string; a silken string. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence, a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if so arranged; a succession; a concatenation; a chain; as, a string of shells or beads; a string of dried apples; a string of houses; a string of arguments. “A string of islands.” Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The cord of a musical instrument, as of a piano, harp, or violin; specifically (pl.), the stringed instruments of an orchestra, in distinction from the wind instruments; as, the strings took up the theme. “An instrument of ten strings.” Ps. xxx. iii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

Me softer airs befit, and softer strings
Of lute, or viol still. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The line or cord of a bow. Ps. xi. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

He twangs the grieving string. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root. [ 1913 Webster ]

Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A nerve or tendon of an animal body. [ 1913 Webster ]

The string of his tongue was loosed. Mark vii. 35. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Shipbuilding) An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Bot.) The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericap of leguminous plants, and which is readily pulled off; as, the strings of beans. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Mining) A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Arch.) Same as Stringcourse. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Billiards) The points made in a game. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (a) In various indoor games, a score or tally, sometimes, as in American billiard games, marked by buttons threaded on a string or wire. (b) In various games, competitions, etc., a certain number of turns at play, of rounds, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

14. (Billiards & Pool) (a) The line from behind and over which the cue ball must be played after being out of play as by being pocketed or knocked off the table; -- called also string line. (b) Act of stringing for break. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

15. A hoax; a trumped-up or “fake” story. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

16. a sequence of similar objects or events sufficiently close in time or space to be perceived as a group; a string of accidents; a string of restaurants on a highway. [ PJC ]

17. (Physics) A one-dimensional string-like mathematical object used as a means of representing the properties of fundamental particles in string theory, one theory of particle physics; such hypothetical objects are one-dimensional and very small (10-33 cm) but exist in more than four spatial dimensions, and have various modes of vibration. Considering particles as strings avoids some of the problems of treating particles as points, and allows a unified treatment of gravity along with the other three forces (electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force) in a manner consistent with quantum mechanics. See also string theory. [ PJC ]

String band (Mus.), a band of musicians using only, or chiefly, stringed instruments. --
String beans. (a) A dish prepared from the unripe pods of several kinds of beans; -- so called because the strings are stripped off. (b) Any kind of beans in which the pods are used for cooking before the seeds are ripe; usually, the low bush bean. --
To have two strings to one's bow, to have a means or expedient in reserve in case the one employed fails. [ 1913 Webster ]