different between skein vs flock

English

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) skean, skain

Etymology

From Middle English skayne, from Old French escaigne (Modern French écagne), probably of Proto-Celtic origin, from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to split off”)

Pronunciation

• enPR: sk?n, IPA^(key): /ske?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n

Noun

skein (plural skeins)

2. A quantity of yarn, thread, etc. put up together, after it is taken from the reel. A skein of cotton yarn is formed by eighty turns of the thread around a fifty-four inch reel.
   • 1935, T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral, Part I:

     You hold the skein: wind, Thomas, wind

     The thread of eternal life and death.

3. (figuratively) A web, a weave, a tangle.
   • 1923, Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Creeping Man"

     The practical application of what I have said is very close to the problem which I am investigating. It is a tangled skein, you understand, and I am looking for a loose end.

4. (zoology) The membrane of a fish ovary.
5. (wagonmaking) A metallic strengthening band or thimble on the wooden arm of an axle.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

6. (zoology, Britain, dialect) A group of wild fowl, (e.g. geese, goslings) when they are in flight.
7. (sports) A winning streak.
8. (radio, television, dated) A series created by a web (major broadcasting network).
   • 1950, Billboard (volume 62, number 9)

     All three tele skeins are pitching furiously to snag the super Easter Day tele show to be bankrolled by Frigidaire, […]

   • 1963, Radio Television Daily (volume 93, page 5)

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

Translations

Verb

skein (third-person singular simple present skeins, present participle skeining, simple past and past participle skeined)

1. To wind or weave into a skein.

See also

• gaggle
• wedge

Anagrams

• Kines, Knies, Neski, Nikes, Sinke, e-skin, inkes, kines

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skai?n/

Noun

skein f (genitive singular skeinar, plural skeinir)

1. (kvæði) scratch, small wound

Declension

Related terms

• (common): skeina

Verb

skein

1. shone, singular past of skína (to shine)

Icelandic

Verb

skein

1. first-person singular past active indicative of skína
2. third-person singular past active indicative of skína
3. second-person singular active imperative of skeina

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• skinte

Verb

skein

1. simple past of skinne

Anagrams

• kisen, kneis, knise, ksien, nikse, siken, sinke, Skien, skien, sneik, snike

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

skein

1. past of skina

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /fl?k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /fl?k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Etymology 1

From Middle English flock (“flock”), from Old English flocc (“flock, company, troop”), from Proto-Germanic *flukkaz, *flakka- (“crowd, troop”). Cognate with Middle Low German vlocke (“crowd, flock”), Old Norse flokkr (“crowd, troop, band, flock”). Perhaps related to Old English folc (“crowd, troop, band”). More at folk.

Noun

flock (plural flocks)

1. A number of birds together in a group, such as those gathered together for the purpose of migration.
2. A large number of animals associated together in a group; commonly used of various farmed animals, such as sheep and goats, but applied to a wide variety of animals.
3. Those served by a particular pastor or shepherd.
4. A large number of people.

   Synonym: congregation

5. (Christianity) A religious congregation.

   Synonym: congregation

Synonyms

(large number of people):

• bunch, gaggle, horde, host, legion, litter, nest, rabble, swarm, throng, wake

Translations

Verb

flock (third-person singular simple present flocks, present participle flocking, simple past and past participle flocked)

1. (intransitive) To congregate in or head towards a place in large numbers.

   People flocked to the cinema to see the new film.

   • What place the gods for our repose assigned.
     Friends daily flock; and scarce the kindly spring
     Began to clothe the ground

2. (transitive, obsolete) To flock to; to crowd.
   • 1609, Taylor

     Good fellows, trooping, flocked me so.

3. To treat a pool with chemicals to remove suspended particles.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English flok (“tuft of wool”), from Old French floc (“tuft of wool”), from Late Latin floccus (“tuft of wool”), probably from Frankish *flokko (“down, wool, flock”), from Proto-Germanic *flukk?n-, *flukkan-, *fluks?n- (“down, flock”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“hair, fibres, tuft”). Cognate with Old High German flocko (“down”), Middle Dutch vlocke (“flock”), Norwegian dialectal flugsa (“snowflake”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian flokë (“hair”).

Noun

flock (countable and uncountable, plural flocks)

1. Coarse tufts of wool or cotton used in bedding.
2. A lock of wool or hair.
3. Very fine sifted woollen refuse, especially that from shearing the nap of cloths, formerly used as a coating for wallpaper to give it a velvety or clothlike appearance; also, the dust of vegetable fibre used for a similar purpose.

   • There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

Translations

Verb

flock (third-person singular simple present flocks, present participle flocking, simple past and past participle flocked)

1. (transitive) To coat a surface with dense fibers or particles; especially, to create a dense arrangement of fibers with a desired nap.

Translations

Derived terms

• flocked

See also

• Appendix:English collective nouns

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish flokker, flukker, from Old Norse flokkr, from Proto-Germanic *flukkaz. Cognate with Faroese flokkur, Icelandic flokkur, Norwegian flokk, and Danish flok.

Pronunciation

Noun

flock c

1. flock; a group of people or animals
2. murder of crows

Declension

Related terms

• flockas