Definition: thread
Source: WordNet (r) 1.7
thread
n 1: a fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or
nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving [syn: yarn]
2: any long object resembling a thin line; "a mere ribbon of
land"; "the lighted ribbon of traffic"; "from the air the
road was a gray thread"; "a thread of smoke climbed
upward" [syn: ribbon]
3: the connections that link the various parts of an event or
argument together; "I couldn't follow his train of
thought"; "he lost the thread of his argument" [syn: train
of thought]
4: the raised helical rib going around a screw [syn: screw
thread]
v 1: to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular
course; "the river winds through the hills"; "the path
meanders through the vineyards"; "sometimes, the gout
wanders through the entire body" [syn: weave, wind,
meander, wander]
2: pass a thread through; "thread a needle"
3: thread on or as if on a string; "string pearls on a string";
"the child drew glass beads on a string" [syn: string, draw]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Thread \Thread\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Threaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Threading.] 1. To pass a thread through the eye of; as, to thread a needle. 2. To pass or pierce through as a narrow way; also, to effect or make, as one's way, through or between obstacles; to thrid. Heavy trading ships . . . threading the Bosphorus. --Mitford. They would not thread the gates. --Shak. 3. To form a thread, or spiral rib, on or in; as, to thread a screw or nut.
Thread \Thread\ (thr[e^]d), n. [OE. threed, [thorn]red, AS. [thorn]r[=ae]d; akin to D. draad, G. draht wire, thread, OHG. dr[=a]t, Icel. [thorn]r[=a][eth]r a thread, Sw. tr[*a]d, Dan. traad, and AS. [thorn]r[=a]wan 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. [Obs.] 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. [Obs.] --Shak. Thread cell (Zo["o]l.), a lasso cell. See under Lasso. Thread herring (Zo["o]l.), 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.
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10)
thread 1. See multithreading. 2. See threaded code. 3. topic thread. [Jargon File]
Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)
thread n. [Usenet, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of `topic thread', a more or less continuous chain of postings on a single topic. To `follow a thread' is to read a series of Usenet postings sharing a common subject or (more correctly) which are connected by Reference headers. The better newsreaders can present news in thread order automatically. Not to be confused with the techspeak sense of `thread', e.g. a lightweight process. Interestingly, this is far from a neologism. The OED says: "That which connects the successive points in anything, esp. a narrative, train of thought, or the like; the sequence of events or ideas continuing throughout the whole course of anything;" Citations are given going back to 1642!
