I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a needle and thread
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I got a needle and thread and sewed the button back on.
cotton thread (= long thin cotton string that you use for sewing )
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I need some dark blue cotton thread.
thread a needle
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Eleanor threaded the needle.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
fine
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Alarmed, they drop quickly and remain suspended at the end of fine silk-like threads .
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The finer the threads , the higher the count and the softer the fabric will be.
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Use fine thread; silk thread with silk fabrics, and synthetic thread with synthetic fabrics.
gold
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It was raven black and the hair was entwined with a slim rope of gold thread and opals.
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The coats were ornately if not fabulously stitched with over a mile of gold thread .
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The gold threads and the jewels woven through it sparkled in the light of the lamps.
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One was of black and orange and yellow lace, with gold thread in it.
golden
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He should have read the writing on the machine they gave him to spin the golden thread .
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Yet there seems to be a dearth of people arguing consistently using a golden thread methodology.
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Soon Maggie held a golden ball of thread and St Margaret had one end of it firmly attached to her finger.
loose
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She adjusted the loose threads in one hand and held the distaff in the other.
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Pete sounded muffled. and as he turned Marcus noticed that he too had a loose thread on his shirt.
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The loose thread in this rotten tapestry is Vechey.
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There was a loose thread on one of Carter's shirt buttons.
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Anxiously, Marcus scanned Gleeson's shirt: no loose threads .
silver
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She was knitting a cloth with gold and silver thread .
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Turakina had on a gown into which were woven gold and silver threads .
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The silver thread of a stream ran down to a crescent-shaped beach.
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A caterpillar dangled in front of me, hanging in mid-air by a silver thread attached to an oak tree twig.
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For evening wear, using a gold or silver thread instead of cotton can add sparkle to your knitting.
strong
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Gingerly, she crawls across this pilot line, trailing behind her a thicker, stronger thread .
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There is a strong thread of historical connection between the three.
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It was so strong , so intangible yet so strong, this thread of awareness running between them.
thin
▪
Ruby laser light stitched the interior of the sanctum like thinnest threads of stronger flame within a dully glowing oven.
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It is a cage, suspended from the ceiling by the thinnest of threads .
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Ventilators hiss and sigh, answering each other across the unit, while thin life-threads move over monitors.
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The finest of these thin threads of glass are extremely soft and flexible, and are a light golden brown in colour.
■ NOUN
cotton
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It was built as a monument to Thomas Coats, the man who had established the family's cotton thread empire.
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When you knit punch lace, the cotton thread in feeder 2 knits every needle on every row.
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It's the needles that knit the cotton thread only that give the lacy effect.
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Normally punch lace is shown knitted with a cotton thread that is the same colour as a main yarn.
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On a Chunky machine an alternative to cotton thread is one end of 2/30 industrial yarn.
silk
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Hair is a marvellous natural fibre - you could almost compare it to pure silk thread .
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A layer of stiff silk threads separated the two.
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Those photographs: a silk thread held either side of her nose, just tilting it up slightly ....
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A length of yarn to cut into four equal pieces, and besides that, some white silk thread and tinfoil.
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Use fine thread; silk thread with silk fabrics, and synthetic thread with synthetic fabrics.
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That's not a hair the axeman says it's a silk thread , a grass blade, the moth's antennae.
■ VERB
spin
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He should have read the writing on the machine they gave him to spin the golden thread .
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They were three, Clotho, the Spinner, who spun the thread of life.
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These were similar to miniature flywheels and added extra momentum while spinning the thread .
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The daughters of the night, they were Clotho, who spun the thread of life.
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One spun the thread of life, the second measured it and the third cut it.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
hang by a thread
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Ed was just hanging by a thread.
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His job is hanging by a thread, as it is.
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Hopes of a title hat-trick hang by a thread, but all is not quite lost.
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Liputin's teeth are by no means the only things that hang by a thread.
pick up the threads (of sth)
▪
The good thing is that he's trying to pick up the threads of his life again.
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Enough to do picking up the threads of his own life.
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She gradually started to pick up the threads of her life.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
A strong thread of spirituality runs through L'Engle's books.
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I tried to hold on to a thread of decency and courage.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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All these threads, and more, entwine in the lines of longitude.
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As a result theoretical discourses are traversed by narrative structures which form a hidden thread running through the argument.
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But there will be a connective thread through it all.
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Each can be the thread that connects children to an engagement with geography, history, and the like.
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She was knitting a cloth with gold and silver thread .
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They were three, Clotho, the Spinner, who spun the thread of life.
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This fabric seems infinite, and its threads worm their way into the natural core that Claire and Jay have formed.
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
needle
▪
It reminded me of Mrs Patrick Campbell, who, according to Shaw, could thread a needle with her toes.
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He sat with Lula while she quilted, threading needles for her and telling her about his day.
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Even many conservatives agree that Clinton has threaded that needle more effectively than they expected.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Thread the beads on a string and make a necklace.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
A tip for threading up Silver Reed or Knitmaster machines.
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He threaded the pen back through her fingers, gently.
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Huong was already threading his machine.
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Rather, the guitar and drum set seem like obbligato instruments, threading their way through the varied and highly imaginative texture.
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Some of the tunnels must have run for miles, winding in and out of the channels of water that threaded everywhere.
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Steel threaded through her muscles, and her senses became as sharp as a cat's.
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They missed his knack of threading the play together and didn't produce their usual rhythm.