Silken thread

• Shakespeare's "___of care"
• "The ravell'd __ of care": Shak
• Silk filament
• Raveled silk
• " . . . ravell'd ___ of care": Shak.
• " . . . the ravel'd ___ of care": Macbeth
• " . . . ravell'd ___ of care": Macbeth
• Small silk thread

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"to separate or divide" (threads, strands, fibers), Old English -slæfan , from stem of -slifan "to separate, split, cleave," from Proto-Germanic *slifanan , perhaps related to the root of slip (v.). Compare German Schleife "a loop, knot, noose." Related: ...