See Also: skein(medicine)
skein(1)(dictionary)
skein(2)(dictionary)
skein(dictionary)
choroid skein(medicine)
skein cell(medicine)

skein(1) (iou)



skein noun1 & verb. ME.
[Aphet. from Old French escaigne (mod. dial. ecagne), of unkn. origin.]
A. noun.
A length of thread or yarn, loosely coiled and knotted (esp. into a figure of eight). ME.
J. Morier Fifty skanes of silk were spun in one day.
b. fig. A tangle, a confusion. E17.
Sir W. Scott The unwinding of the perilous skein of..politics.
transf. A small cluster or arrangement resembling a skein. L17.
b. A flight of wildfowl, esp. geese or swans. M19.
D. Attenborough Long skeins of them keep a..purposeful course across the..sky.
b. verb trans. Make into skeins; mark with a pattern resembling a skein. L18.
skeiner noun E20.