different between skein vs sken

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

Etymology

Obscure origin, possibly related to askance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk?n/

Verb

sken (third-person singular simple present skens, present participle skenning, simple past and past participle skenned)

1. (Northern English) to squint
   • 1989, Marie Joseph, A World Apart, page 344:

     She's about seventy and skens like a basket of whelks, but she's as good as any doctor.

   • 1861, Edwin Waugh, "The Birtle Carter's Tale About Owd Bodle":

     He skens ill enough to crack a lookin'-glass.

2. (Northern English) to glance

References

Anagrams

• kens, neks, snek

Old Saxon

Verb

sk?n

1. first/third-person past indicative of skinan

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??e?n/

Noun

sken n

1. an appearance; guise

   skenet bedrar

   the appearance may fool you

2. a (strong) light

   månens matta sken

   the dim light of the moon

3. bolting

Declension

Related terms

• månsken
• norrsken
• skenbar
• skenmanöver
• skina
• solsken

Verb

sken

1. past tense of skina.

Westrobothnian

Etymology

From Old Norse skin, from skína, whence skiin.

Noun

sken n

1. drought

Derived terms

• skenjol