(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
1.
Thread or a ~ is a long very thin piece of a material such as cotton, nylon, or silk, especially one that is used in sewing.
...a tiny Nepalese hat embroidered with golden ~s.
N-VAR
2.
The ~ of an argument, a story, or a situation is an aspect of it that connects all the different parts together.
The ~ running through many of these proposals was the theme of individual power and opportunity...
N-COUNT: usu with supp
3.
A ~ of something such as liquid, light, or colour is a long thin line or piece of it.
A thin, glistening ~ of moisture ran along the rough concrete sill.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
4.
The ~ on a screw, or on something such as a lid or a pipe, is the raised spiral line of metal or plastic around it which allows it to be fixed in place by twisting.
The screw ~s will be able to get a good grip.
N-COUNT
5.
If you ~ your way through a group of people or things, or ~ through it, you move through it carefully or slowly, changing direction frequently as you move.
Slowly she ~ed her way back through the moving mass of bodies...
We ~ed through a network of back streets.
VERB: V way prep/adv, V prep
6.
If you ~ a long thin object through something, you pass it through one or more holes or narrow spaces.
...~ing the laces through the eyelets of his shoes...
Instruments developed at the hospital allow doctors to ~ microscopic telescopes into the digestive tract.
VERB: V n through n, V n into n
7.
If you ~ small objects such as beads onto a string or ~, you join them together by pushing the string through them.
Wipe the mushrooms clean and ~ them on a string.
VERB: V n prep
8.
When you ~ a needle, you put a piece of ~ through the hole in the top of the needle in order to sew with it.
I sit down, ~ a needle, snip off an old button.
VERB: V n
9.
If you say that something is hanging by a ~, you mean that it is in a very uncertain state and is unlikely to survive or succeed.
The fragile peace was hanging by a ~ as thousands of hardliners took to the streets.
PHRASE: V inflects
10.
If you pick up the ~s of an activity, you start it again after an interruption. If you pick up the ~s of your life, you become more active again after a period of failure or bad luck.
Many women have been able to pick up the ~s of their former career.
PHRASE: V inflects