skein

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a length of yarn or thread wound into a loose, elongated coil

   She held the skein while her teacher wound the wool into a ball.

2. 2
   noun

   a tangled or intricately connected mass, sequence, or web

   The detective slowly unraveled a skein of lies and hidden payments.

From Middle English skeyne, ultimately related to Dutch scheen and other Germanic words for a strip, bar, or length. The yarn sense names thread arranged in a long loose coil rather than tightly wound on a spool; its visible crossings encouraged the figurative sense of an intricate tangle or web.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary