1. fine cord of a fibrous material, such as cotton or flax, made of two or more filaments twisted together and used in needlework and the weaving of cloth.
2. A piece of such cord.
3. A thin strand, cord, or filament of natural or manufactured material.
4. something that suggests the fineness or thinness of such a strand, cord, or filament: a thread of smoke.
5. something that suggests the continuousness of such a strand, cord, or filament: lost the thread of his argument.
6. A helical or spiral ridge on a screw, nut, or bolt.
7. computer science A portion of a program that can run independently of and concurrently with other portions of the program.
8. computer science A set of posts on a newsgroup, composed of an initial post about a topic and all responses to it.
9. slang clothes.
10. to pass one end of a thread through the eye of (a needle, for example).
11. to pass (something) through in the manner of a thread: thread the wire through the opening.
12. to pass a tape or film into or through (a device): thread a film projector.
13. to pass (a tape or film) into or through a device.
14. to connect by running a thread through; string: thread beads.
15. to make one's way cautiously through: threading dark alleys.
16. to make (one's way) cautiously through something.
17. to occur here and there throughout; pervade: "more than 90 geologic faults thread the los Angeles area” ( science news).
18. to machine a thread on (a screw, nut, or bolt).
19. to make one's way cautiously: threaded through the shoals and sandbars.
20. to proceed by a winding course.
21. to form a thread when dropped from a spoon, as boiling sugar syrup.

1. A long, thin and flexible form of material, generally with a round cross-section, used in sewing, weaving or in the construction of string.
2. A theme or idea.
3. A screw thread.
4. A sequence of connections.
5. the line midway between the banks of a stream.
6. A unit of execution, lighter in weight than a process, generally expected to share memory and other resources with other threads executing concurrently.
7. A series of messages, generally grouped by subject, all but the first replies to previous messages in the thread.
8. to put thread through.
9. to pass (through a narrow constriction or around a series of obstacles).

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; also, one fiber of a cord composed of multiple fibers.
2. A filament of any substance, as of glass, gold or silver; a filamentous part of an object, such as a flower; a component fiber of any or of any fibrous substance, as of bark.
3. the prominent part of the spiral of a screw or nut; the rib. see screw, n., 1.
4. something continued in a long course or tenor; a recurrent theme or related sequence of events in a larger story.
5. fig.: composition; quality; fineness.
6. A related sequence of instructions or actions within a program that runs at least in part independent of other actions within the program; -- such threads are capable of being executed only in oprating systems permittnig multitasking.
7. A sequence of messages posted to an on-line newsgroup or discussion group, dealing with the same topic; -- messages in such a thread typically refer to a previous posting, thus allowing their identification as part of the thread. some news-reading programs allow a user to follow a single such thread independent of the other postings to that newsgroup.
8. to pass a thread through the eye of.
9. to pass or pierce through as a narrow way; also, to effect or make, as one's way, through or between obstacles; to thrid.
10. to form a thread, or spiral rib, on or in.

1. in electricity, to pass through and link with, as the lines of force of the magnetic S.—85 field of a D' Arsonval galvanometer pass through the suspended coil of the instrument.
2. to pass a thread through the eye or aperture of, as a needle.
3. to string on a thread.
4. to pass through with the carefulness and precision of one who is threading a needle, implying narrowness or intricacy in that which is passed through.
5. to form a spiral projection on or a spiral groove in; furnish with a thread, as a screw: as, to thread a bolt.
6. plural A defect in glass articles: same as string, 15.
7. A twisted filament of a fibrous substance, as cotton, flax, silk, or wool, spun out to considerable length.
8. A fine filament or thread-like body of any kind: as, a thread of spun glass; a thread of com-silk.
9. the prominent spiral part of a screw. see cuts under screw and screw-thread.
10. in mining, a thin seam, vein, or fissure filled with ore.
11. A very slender line applied on a surface: thus, in decorative art, thin and minute lines are so called to distinguish them from bands of color, which, though narrow, have a more appreciable width.
12. plural in conchology, the byssus.
13. A yarn-measure, the circumference of a reel, containing 1½, 2, 2½, or 3 yards.
14. that which runs through the whole course of something and connects its successive parts; hence, proper course or sequence; the main idea, thought, or purpose which runs through something: as, the thread of a discourse or story.
15. A clue.
16. distinguishing property; quality; degree of fineness.
17. the thread of life. see phrase below.
18. A thin strip of gilded paper often used in oriental brocaded stuffs.
19. erroneously, gold wire.
20. see goldthread.

1. the raised helical rib going around a screw
2. pass through or into
3. remove facial hair by tying a fine string around it and pulling at the string
4. any long object resembling a thin line
5. a fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving
6. pass a thread through
7. thread on or as if on a string
8. to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course
9. the connections that link the various parts of an event or argument together