" . . . ravell'd ___ of care": Macbeth

• Silken thread
• "Sleep that knits up the ravell'd ___ of care": Shakespeare
• Separate, as thread
• Kind of silk
• "The ravel'd ___ of care."
• Divide silk into filaments
• " . . . ravell'd ___ of care": Shak.
• Silk filament

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: ...