Thread (thrĕd), n. [OE. threed, þred, AS. þrǣd; akin to D. draad, G. draht wire, thread, OHG. drāt, Icel. þrāðr a thread, Sw. tråd, Dan. traad, and AS. þrāwan to twist. See Throw, and cf. Third.] 1. 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.
2. A filament, as of a flower, or of any fibrous substance, as of bark; also, a line of gold or silver.
3. The prominent part of the spiral of a screw or nut; the rib. See Screw, n., 1.
4. Fig.: Something continued in a long course or tenor; a,s the thread of life, or of a discourse. Bp. Burnet.
5. Fig.: Composition; quality; fineness.
A neat courtier,
Of a most elegant thread. B. Jonson.
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. Shak. — Thread cell(Zoöl.), a lasso cell. See under Lasso. — Thread herring(Zoöl.), 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.