skein
1 of 2noun
ˈskān 
1
or less commonly skean or skeane
ˈskān
: a loosely coiled length of yarn or thread wound on a reel 2
: something suggesting the twists or coils of a skein : tangle
3
: a flock of wildfowl (such as geese or ducks) in flight
skein
2 of 2verb
skeined; skeining; skeins
transitive verb
: to wind into skeins
skein yarn
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
Zephyr Teachout, The New York Review of Books, 3 Aug. 2022 In a skein of dialogues that runs more than a half hour long, set in and around an otherwise empty café, Sangok confronts and defies mortality by way of her artistic vocation and creative passion. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 May 2022 Her hair hung like a skein of silk, immune to humidity. New York Times, 5 Mar. 2022 The hot directorial duo have also written the screenplays of the six-episode skein, for which casting is currently underway. Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 7 Feb. 2022 This should be the season the Mariners finally end the 21-year drought, the longest skein without a playoff berth in North American team sports. Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 18 Feb. 2022 Held in the mesh of gravity and spin, a skein of quantum magnetic charge, the Muon persists, outlives its foreseeable wobble. Judith K. Liebmann, Scientific American, 20 Jan. 2022 It’s dry, with apricot and pear flavors and a skein of minerality that carries the fruit through to a long, satisfying finish. Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2021 Kalmerton has most success fishing skein or flies for the spawning chinook. Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 Oct. 2021 See More
Noun
This was funny for a moment, and then not—a thin skein of anxiety started winding its way across the room. Zephyr Teachout, The New York Review of Books, 3 Aug. 2022 In a skein of dialogues that runs more than a half hour long, set in and around an otherwise empty café, Sangok confronts and defies mortality by way of her artistic vocation and creative passion. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 May 2022 Her hair hung like a skein of silk, immune to humidity. New York Times, 5 Mar. 2022 The hot directorial duo have also written the screenplays of the six-episode skein, for which casting is currently underway. Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 7 Feb. 2022 This should be the season the Mariners finally end the 21-year drought, the longest skein without a playoff berth in North American team sports. Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 18 Feb. 2022 Held in the mesh of gravity and spin, a skein of quantum magnetic charge, the Muon persists, outlives its foreseeable wobble. Judith K. Liebmann, Scientific American, 20 Jan. 2022 It’s dry, with apricot and pear flavors and a skein of minerality that carries the fruit through to a long, satisfying finish. Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2021 Kalmerton has most success fishing skein or flies for the spawning chinook. Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 Oct. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English skeyne, from Middle French (Picard) escagne, probably from Vulgar Latin *scamnia, from *scamniare to wind yarn, from *scamnium rack for holding bobbins, from Latin scamnum bench, stool — more at shambles
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
circa 1775, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
skein
noun
ˈskān
: a quantity of yarn or thread arranged in a loose coil
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