thread

thread1 [ θred ] noun **

▸ 1 used for sewing

▸ 2 line around screw

▸ 3 long line of something

▸ 4 idea that connects

▸ 5 series of messages

▸ 6 very small amount/level

▸ 7 clothes

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) count or uncount a long thin fiber used for sewing pieces of cloth together or for weaving:

cotton/silk/nylon thread

You need a longer piece of thread.

a ) a long thin fiber or piece of something:

a caterpillar dangling by a silken thread

2. ) count the raised line that curves around a screw or the inside of the cover of a container

3. ) count a long thin line of something:

thread of: A silvery thread of water cut through the forest.

4. ) count an idea or condition that exists in all the different parts of something and connects them:

a common/connecting thread: There is a common thread running through all the problems.

5. ) count COMPUTING a series of messages on a MESSAGE BOARD

6. ) count thread of LITERARY a very small amount or level of something:

Her voice was a whisper, a thin thread of sound.

7. ) threads plural INFORMAL OLD-FASHIONED clothes

hang by a thread

to be in great danger of death or failure:

His son's life was hanging by a thread.

lose the thread

1. ) to stop concentrating so that you do not understand what someone is saying:

More than once she lost the thread and had to ask them to speak more slowly.

2. ) to stop concentrating and forget what you intended to say next

pick up/take up the threads

to start doing something again that you had stopped doing:

I picked up the threads of ordinary life again.

thread

thread 2 [ θred ] verb transitive

1. ) to put something long and thin through a hole or space:

Thread the rope through the rings and tie firmly.

a ) thread your fingers through something to push your fingers through something, especially hair

b ) thread a needle to put a piece of THREAD through a needle

2. ) to connect objects by putting a THREAD through them:

Jack was threading popcorn to hang on the tree.

thread your way around/through/between etc.

to move carefully through a place, avoiding people or things that are in your way:

She threaded her way through the narrow alleys.