skein

plural skeins · alternative skain · alternative skean

1. A quantity of thread, yarn, etc., wound on a reel then removed and loosely knotted into an oblong shape; a skein of cotton is formed by eighty turns of thread around a reel with a fifty-four inch diameter.

   VVhat is ſhe heire to? a braſſe thimble, and / A skeane of brovvn thread?

   1633 (first performance), W[illiam] Davenant, Love and Honour, […], London: […] Hum[phrey] Robinson […], and Hum[phrey] Moseley […], published 1649, →OCLC, Act I, page 10, column 2

   5 more examples

   Some for very nede / Layde downe a skeyne of threde, / And some a skeyne of yarne; […]

   c. 1517 (date written; published c. 1545), John Skelton, “Here after Foloweth the Booke Called Elynour Rummynge. The Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng per Skelton Laureat.”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 105, lines 309–311

   Reche me that skane of tewly sylk; / And, Wynde me that botowme of such an hew, / Grene, rede, tawny, whyte, blak, purpill, and blew.

   1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 393, lines 798–800

   Brau'd in mine ovvne houſe vvith a skeine of thred: / Avvay thou Ragge, thou quantitie, thou remnant, / Or I ſhall ſo be-mete thee vvith thy yard, / As thou ſhalt thinke on prating vvhil'ſt thou liu'ſt: […]

   c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 224, column 1

   No vvhy art thou then exaſperate, thou idle immaterial skiene of ſleiue ſilke, thou greene ſacenet flap for a ſore eye, thou toſſell of a Prodigals purſe—thou […]

   No, why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterial skein of sleeve silk, thou greene sarsenet flap for a sore eye, thou tassel of a prodigal's purse—thou […]

   c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

   Suppoſe novv a VVork-houſe for Employment of Poor Children, ſets them to ſpinning of VVorſted.—For every Skein of VVorſted theſe Poor Children Spin, there muſt be a Skein the leſs Spun by ſome poor Family or Perſon that ſpun it before; […] 'tis only the tranſpoſing the Manufacture from Colcheſter to London, and taking the Bread out of the Mouths of the Poor of Eſſex to put it into the Mouths of the Poor of Middleſex.

   1704, [Daniel Defoe], Giving Alms No Charity, and Employing the Poor a Grievance to the Nation, […], London: Printed, and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, →OCLC, page 16

2. A thing resembling a skein (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) of thread, yarn, etc.
   1. broadlybiologyThe membrane of a fish ovary.
   2. UKbroadlycollectivedialectalbiologyA group of wildfowl (for example, geese or swans) in flight.

      A group of geese is called a gaggle. […] They're only referred to as a gaggle when they're on land. When they're flying in formation they can be referred to as a skein.

      [2019 June 6, “Newsround: A Gaggle, a Confusion and a Conspiracy – Bizarre Animal Collective Group Names”, in CBBC, BBC, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2025

      1 more example

      High above the swallows and 2 miles or so out into the Channel was a skein of geese, probably brent geese on the first day of their emigration from the estuaries of the Channel coast towards the high Arctic tundra of Spitsbergen or Russia.

      2018, Laurence Rose, “France”, in The Long Spring: Tracking the Arrival of Spring through Europe, London: Bloomsbury Wildlife, →ISBN, page 111

   3. alsoattributivebroadlyobsoletebiochemistrySynonym of spireme (“the tangled mass of strands of chromatin seen in the early stages of mitosis, originally believed to be a single continuous strand (or two in a diploid cell, etc.)”).

      Synonyms: spireme

3. figurativelyA tangle, a weave, a web.

   […] Achilles Tatius, with a feeling of much insecurity, awaited the unwinding of the perilous skein of state politics, […]

   1830 November – 1831 November (date written), Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Fourth and Last Series. […], volume III (Count Robert of Paris), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Robert Cadell; London: Whittaker and Co., published 1 December 1831 (indicated as 1832), →OCLC, page 132

   5 more examples

   Not that I ſee through his perplexed plots, / And hidden ends, nor that my parts depend / Vpon the vnvvinding this ſo knotted skeane, / Doe I beſeech your patience.

   1625 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Staple of Newes. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act V, scene ii, page 68

   They diſentangle from the puzzled ſkein / In vvhich obſcurity has vvrapp'd them up, / The threads of politic and ſhrevvd deſign / That ran through all his purposes, […]

   1785, William Cowper, “Book III. The Garden.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 98

   But first a little patience; first undo / This tangled thread, and wind it to a clue. / Ah, gentle! 'tis as weak as spider's skein; / And shouldst thou break it—What, is it done so clean?

   1818, John Keats, “Book III”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 141, lines 760–763

   This evening Bathsheba was unusually excited, her red cheeks and lips contrasting lustrously with the mazy skeins of her shadowy hair.

   1874, Thomas Hardy, “Eventide—a Second Declaration”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 256

   He watched her pretty and unconscious munching through the skeins of smoke that pervaded the tent, and Tess Durbeyfield did not divine, as she innocently looked down at the roses in her bosom, that there behind the blue narcotic haze sat the 'tragic mischief' of her drama—he who was to be the blood-red ray in the spectrum of her young life.

   1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter I, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), page 75

4. figurativelyhobbiesA winning streak.
5. USdatedfigurativelybroadcastingA series created by a web (“major broadcasting network”).

   Three comedy shows from the U.S. are in the CTV lineup: CBS-TV's Phil Silvers and Danny Thomas skeins and NBC-TV's "Harry's Girls."

   1963, Radio Television Daily, volume 93, New York, N.Y.: Scheuer Publications, →OCLC, page 5, column 4

   1 more example

   All three tele skeins are pitching furiously to snag the super Easter Day tele show to be bankrolled by Frigidaire, but no decision has been reached at press time. […] Bankroller will buy time on the skein delivering the largest number of live coaxial outlets, but none of the webs are as yet able to make definite commitments.

   1950 March 4, “Three Tele Nets All-out to Grab Frigidaire Show”, in Roger S. Littleford Jr., editor, The Billboard: The World’s Foremost Amusement Weekly, volume 62, number 9, Cincinnati, Oh.: Roger S. Littleford Jr.; William D. Littleford, →OCLC, page 5, column 3

present singular third person skeins · participle present skeining · participle past skeined · past skeined

1. transitiveTo weave or wind (thread, yarn, etc.) into a skein (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).

   1 more example

   Under section 7 of Act March 3, 1883, referring to section 2907, Rev. St., if skeining worsted or mohair yarns is necessary to render them merchantable yarns, the cost of skeining is a part of the value of the goods, and subject to duty. If skeining is necessary only for convenience in transportation from the producer to the consumer, it is a charge for putting up, preparing, and packing for shipment, and the extra cost of skeining is not to be added to the other costs in computing the duty.

   1891, Mark Wilks Collet, reporter, “Stephenson v. Cooper, Collector”, in The Federal Reporter […] (National Reporter System, United States Series), volume 44, St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., →OCLC, headnote, page 53

2. figurativelytransitiveTo intertwine or weave (something) with another thing.

   Water skeined the landscape. The Shannon River, lost since Limerick city, was drawing nearer to name the airport, and a tributary quickened its way towards it.

   1955, Elizabeth Bowen, chapter XI, in A World of Love, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, part I, pages 219–220

plural skeins

1. transitiveA thin strip of an osier (“long, pliable twig from a plant, usually a willow”) used in basketmaking.

   [F]or the finer work, as table-mats, fruit and work-baskets, and the like, the osiers are divided into four parts, lengthways, which are called splits, and these are afterwards reduced to various degrees of fineness, when they are called skeins.

   1836, Luke Hebert, “BASKET”, in The Engineer’s and Mechanic’s Encyclopædia, Comprehending Practical Illustrations of the Machinery and Processes Employed in Every Description of Manufacture of the British Empire. […], volume I, London: Thomas Kelly, […], →OCLC, pages 153–154

2. USdatedtransitiveroadA metallic strengthening band or thimble on the wooden arm of an axle of a wagon.

   On November 21, Dow, one of the free-state settlers went to the blacksmith's shop unarmed, carrying a waggon skein to be repaired. While he was at the shop, Coleman and Buckley of Missouri, and another pro-slavery man came up, all armed, and an angry discussion followed.

   1862, Thomas Hughes, “The Struggle for Kansas. The Substance of Two Lectures Delivered at the Working Men’s College, Great Ormond Street.”, in J[ohn] M[alcolm Forbes] Ludlow, A Sketch of the History of the United States from Independence to Secession. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 345