Adjacent Words

Yarn definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

YARN, n.
1. Spun wool; woolen thread; but it is applied also to other species of thread, as to cotton and linen.
2. In rope-making, one of the threads of which a rope is composed. It is spun from hemp.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events; "his narration was hesitant" [syn: narration, recital, yarn]
2: a fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving [syn: thread, yarn] v
1: tell or spin a yarn

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English gearn; akin to Old High German garn yarn, Greek chord? string, Latin hernia rupture, Sanskrit hira band Date: before 12th century 1. a. a continuous often plied strand composed of either natural or man-made fibers or filaments and used in weaving and knitting to form cloth b. a similar strand of another material (as metal, glass, or plastic) 2. a narrative of adventures; especially a tall tale <a roaring good yarn> II. intransitive verb Date: 1812 to tell a yarn • yarner noun

Britannica Concise

Continuous strand of fibers grouped or twisted together and used to construct textile fabrics. Yarns are made from both natural and synthetic fibers, in filament or staple form. Filament is very long fiber, incl. the natural fiber silk and the synthetic fibers. Most fibers that occur in nature are fairly short, or staple, and synthetic fibers may be cut into short, uniform lengths to form staple. Spinning is the process of drawing out and twisting a mass of cleaned, prepared fibers. Filament yarns generally require less twist than do staple yarns. More twist produces stronger yarn; low twist produces softer, shinier yarn. Two or more single strands may be twisted together to form ply yarn. Knitting yarns have less twist than weaving yarns. Thread, used for sewing, is a tightly twisted ply yarn.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 any spun thread, esp. for knitting, weaving, rope-making, etc. 2 colloq. a long or rambling story or discourse. --v.intr. colloq. tell yarns. Etymology: OE gearn

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Yarn Yarn, n. [OE. yarn, [yogh]arn, AS. gearn; akin to D. garen, G., OHG., Icel., Sw., & Dan. garn; of uncertain origin. Cf. Cord.] 1. Spun wool; woolen thread; also, thread of other material, as of cotton, flax, hemp, or silk; material spun and prepared for use in weaving, knitting, manufacturing sewing thread, or the like. 2. (Rope Making) One of the threads of which the strands of a rope are composed. 3. A story told by a sailor for the amusement of his companions; a story or tale; as, to spin a yarn. [Colloq.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(yarns) 1. Yarn is thread used for knitting or making cloth. She still spins the yarn and knits sweaters for her family. ...vegetable-dyed yarns. N-MASS 2. A yarn is a story that someone tells, often a true story with invented details which make it more interesting. Doug has a yarn or two to tell me about his trips into the bush. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Found only in 1 Kings 10:28, 2 Chr. 1:16. The Heb. word mikveh, i.e., "a stringing together," so rendered, rather signifies a host, or company, or a string of horses. The Authorized Version has: "And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price;" but the Revised Version correctly renders: "And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price."

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

yarn.

See LINEN; SPINNING; WEAVING.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Woollen thread. 2. (Colloq.) Story, tale.

Foolish Dictionary

An essential in fabrication--either woven or narrated. Mill yarns are highly colored; those spun at sea much more so.

Moby Thesaurus

account, anecdotage, anecdote, belly laugh, blague, blue story, braid, brail, cable, causerie, chat, chin, chronicle, cock-and-bull story, colloque, cord, dirty joke, dirty story, double entendre, epic, epos, ethnic joke, exaggeration, fable, fabrication, fairy tale, falsehood, falsity, farfetched story, farrago, fib, fiction, fish story, flam, flimflam, fun, funny story, gag, ghost story, good one, good story, half-truth, howler, jape, jest, jestbook, joke, laugh, legal fiction, lie, ligament, ligation, ligature, line, little white lie, mendacity, narration, narrative, panic, pious fiction, play, point, prevarication, prose, rap, rib tickler, riot, rope, saga, scream, sick joke, sidesplitter, sight gag, slight stretching, sport, spun yarn, story, strand, string, tale, talk, tall story, tall tale, taradiddle, tendon, thong, thread, trumped-up story, twine, twist, untruth, visit, visual joke, wheeze, white lie, whopper, wire, wow