packthreadn.adj.
/ˈpakθrɛd/, U.S. /ˈpækˌθrɛd/ A. n.
Strong cord or twine used for sewing or tying up packs or bundles; a piece or length of this. Also figurative.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > for other specific purpose
packthread1304
pack-line1447
thrum1466
pack-twine1645
whip1825
basket-twine1833
stocking-yarn1835
draw thread1839
mending1882
straw cotton1882
1304 Exchequer Accts. (Public Rec. Office) 12/25 (MED) c leez de pacthred.
1343 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 542 (MED) In Paknedel et Paktrede emp. pro lana pakkanda, 8 d.
1393 in L. T. Smith Exped. Prussia & Holy Land Earl Derby (1894) 158 Pro pacthred [pro] dictis ligandis.
1442 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 387 (MED) Thomas Wigh for xvj Skaynys of grete packethrede for the masons for mesours.
a1475 Dis. Hawk (Harl. 2340) f. 24, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Pak(e Than teye to þi Iessis A long pake threde of xxti. fadom.
1572 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Queen Elizabeth (1908) 164 Sandwiche corde, packthreade, twyne.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet v. i. 47 Beggerly accounts of emptie boxes..Olde endes of packthred . View more context for this quotation
1599 T. Heywood 1st Pt. King Edward IV sig. Cv If I wory not a thousand of you with my teeth, let mee be hangde in a packethreed.
1631–2 Accts. Office of Works in Coll. Malone Soc. (1977) X. 42 Cloth bound about wth whalebone packthred and wyer for the better foulding of the same.
1673 Leith Customs f. 29, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Pak-thred, -threid 250 pounds packe threed [£1.5.0.].
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 407. ¶5 There was a Councellor who never pleaded without a Piece of Pack-thread in his Hand.
1777 Farmer's Mag. July 230 Gird the body or stem of the rose-tree with pack-thread.
1826 Gardener's Mag. Apr. 210 Surround the plants by a cord or pack-thread smeared with tar.
1862 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia III. xii. xi. 331 His big Austrian Heritages..elaborately tied by diplomatic packthread and Pragmatic Sanction.
1921 Amer. Math. Monthly 28 271 Friendly, well-meaning and fumbling hands will stretch out to bind the poet's heart in the maddening packthread of Lilliput.
1989 P. van de Merwe Origins of Pop. Style vi. 43 The doors opened by wooden latches, raised by means of small bits of packthread.
B. adj. (attributive).
Made of or with packthread. Now rare.
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1650 S. Sheppard Amandus & Sophronia iii. v. 124 She put off her gorgeous habbit, and atired her selfe in a Coat of russet-gray, binding up her golden haire in a packthread Cawle.
1720 London Gaz. No. 5868/9 Shift..ruffled with a Packthread striped Muslin with looped Mechlin Edging.
1767 in E. Singleton Social N.Y. under Georges (1902) 226 Children's pack thread stays from one to eight years old.
1838–9 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation (1863) 28 A packthread bell-rope.
1891 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 396 He smiles at Calhoun's trying to anchor South Carolina to the shoals of the Past with a pack-thread cable and a crooked pin.
1992 P. O'Brian Truelove vi. 159 I feel obliged to wear leather shoes..with their unaccustomed weight after the packthread slippers I ordinarily wear aboard.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1304