The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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.
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.
The prominent part of the spiral of a screw or nut; the rib. See Screw, n., 1.
(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.-
Fig.: Composition; quality; fineness. [Obs.]
A neat courtier, Of a most elegant thread.
--B. Jonson. (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.
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(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.
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 (Zo["o]l.), a lasso cell. See under Lasso.
Thread herring (Zo["o]l.), 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.
Wiktionary
n. lace made from linen thread
Usage examples of "thread lace".
Bundled in a cloak of shimmering white lambswool trimmed with gold-thread lace, her hair dressed with moonstones and garnets, she sat on her white pony like an overdressed doll instead of a skilled leronis.