Raveled silk

• Kind of silk
• " . . . ravell'd ___ of care": Macbeth
• Separate, as thread
• " . . . the ravel'd ___ of care"
• Silk filament
• Filament of silk
• "The ravel'd ___ of care"
• " . . . ravell'd ___ of care": Shak.

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. 1 The knotted or entangled part of silk or thread. 2 Silk not yet twisted; floss. vb. (context weaving English) To separate, as threads; to divide, as a collection of threads.

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sleave \Sleave\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sleaved (sl[=e]vd); p. pr. & vb. n. Sleaving .] To separate, as threads; to divide, as a collection of threads; to sley; -- a weaver's term.