I. ˈyärn, ˈyȧn noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English yarn, yern, from Old English gearn; akin to Old High German garn yarn, Old Norse görn gut, Greek chordē string, Latin haru spex soothsayer, diviner basing his predictions on inspection of animal entrails, hernia rupture, Lithuanian žarna intestine, Sanskrit hirā vein
1.
a. : a continuous strand often of two or more plies that is composed of carded or combed fibers twisted together by spinning, filaments laid parallel or twisted together, or a single filament, is made from natural or synthetic fibers and filaments or blends of these, and is used for the warp and weft in weaving and for knitting or other interlacings that form cloth
b. : a similar strand of metal, glass, asbestos, paper, or plastic used separately or in blends
c. : thread ; especially : a component of a plied thread
d. : rope yarn 1
2.
a. : an entertaining narrative of real or fictitious adventures : anecdote , story
the whodunit, the western, and the space yarn continue to find readers — J.D.Adams
especially : a tall tale
spun into the narrative a little yarn which he had fabricated last night in bed — O.E.Rölvaag
b. : conversation , chat
a yarn with the boys on the dock — Anthony Anable
stopped to have a yarn with me — Eve Langley
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
1. : to tell a yarn
men yarn of the harbor's famous pilots — George Farwell
all the personal zest of a man yarning about his past — J.D.Hart
2. : to have a conversation : chat , gossip
whistling about the place, yarning with the fishermen at the breakwater — Vance Palmer
transitive verb
: to envelop or pack (as a pipe joint) with yarn