different between skein vs skain

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

Noun

skain (plural skains)

1. Alternative form of skein
   • 1798, John Ebers, s.v. "Knauel", The new and complete dictionary of the German and English language, page 360

     Knauel, der, A Bottom or Clew of thread or of Yarn, a Hank, a Skain of Yarn or thread

   • 1816, George Gregory, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences [1]

     The aim of the rope-maker is to unite the strings of a great number of fibres... This is done by twisting or twining them together... When the fibres are so disposed in a long skain, that their ends succeed each other along its length, without many of them meeting in one place; and this skain is twisted round... the friction on a fibre which we attempt to pull out may be more than its cohesion can overcome... Consequently, if we pull at this twisted skain, we shall not separate it by drawing one parcel out from among the rest, but the whole fibres will break; and if the distribution of the fibres has been a very equable, the skain will be nearly of the same strength in every part.

References

Anagrams

• Akins, Askin, Inkas, Naiks, ask in, askin', kains, kinas, naiks