GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 3 definitions
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String (strĭng), n. [OE. string, streng, AS. streng; akin to D. streng, G. strang, Icel. strengr, Sw. sträng, Dan. straeng; probably from the adj., E. strong (see Strong); or perhaps originally meaning, twisted, and akin to E. strangle.]
1. A small cord, a line, a twine, or a slender strip of leather, or other substance, used for binding together, fastening, or tying things; a cord, larger than a thread and smaller than a rope; as, “a shoe string; a bonnet string; a silken string.” Shak.
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Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string. Prior.
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2. A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence, a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if so arranged; a succession; a concatenation; a chain; as, “a string of shells or beads; a string of dried apples; a string of houses; a string of arguments.” “A string of islands.” Gibbon.
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3. A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together. Milton.
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4. The cord of a musical instrument, as of a piano, harp, or violin; specifically (pl.), the stringed instruments of an orchestra, in distinction from the wind instruments; as, “the strings took up the theme”. “An instrument of ten strings.” Ps. xxx. iii. 2.
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Me softer airs befit, and softer strings
Of lute, or viol still. Milton.
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5. The line or cord of a bow. Ps. xi. 2.
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He twangs the grieving string. Pope.
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6. A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.
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Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom. Bacon.
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7. A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
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The string of his tongue was loosed. Mark vii. 35.
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8. (Shipbuilding) An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.
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9. (Bot.) The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericap of leguminous plants, and which is readily pulled off; as, “the strings of beans”.
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10. (Mining) A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein. Ure.
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11. (Arch.) Same as Stringcourse.
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12. (Billiards) The points made in a game.
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13. (a) In various indoor games, a score or tally, sometimes, as in American billiard games, marked by buttons threaded on a string or wire. (b) In various games, competitions, etc., a certain number of turns at play, of rounds, etc.
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14. (Billiards & Pool) (a) The line from behind and over which the cue ball must be played after being out of play as by being pocketed or knocked off the table; -- called also string line. (b) Act of stringing for break.
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15. A hoax; a trumped-up or “fake” story. [Slang]
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16. a sequence of similar objects or events sufficiently close in time or space to be perceived as a group; “a string of accidents; a string of restaurants on a highway”.
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17. (Physics) A one-dimensional string-like mathematical object used as a means of representing the properties of fundamental particles in string theory, one theory of particle physics; such hypothetical objects are one-dimensional and very small (10-33 cm) but exist in more than four spatial dimensions, and have various modes of vibration. Considering particles as strings avoids some of the problems of treating particles as points, and allows a unified treatment of gravity along with the other three forces (electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force) in a manner consistent with quantum mechanics. See also string theory.
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String band (Mus.), a band of musicians using only, or chiefly, stringed instruments. -- String beans. (a) A dish prepared from the unripe pods of several kinds of beans; -- so called because the strings are stripped off. (b) Any kind of beans in which the pods are used for cooking before the seeds are ripe; usually, the low bush bean. -- To have two strings to one's bow, to have a means or expedient in reserve in case the one employed fails.
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String (strĭng), v. t. [imp. Strung (strŭng); p. p. Strung (R. Stringed (strĭngd)); p. pr. & vb. n. Stringing.]
1. To furnish with strings; as, “to string a violin”.
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Has not wise nature strung the legs and feet
With firmest nerves, designed to walk the street? Gay.
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2. To put in tune the strings of, as a stringed instrument, in order to play upon it.
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For here the Muse so oft her harp has strung,
That not a mountain rears its head unsung. Addison.
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3. To put on a string; to file; as, “to string beads”.
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4. To make tense; to strengthen.
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Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood. Dryden.
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5. To deprive of strings; to strip the strings from; as, “to string beans”. See String, n., 9.
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6. To hoax; josh; jolly; often used with along; as, “we strung him along all day until he realized we were kidding”. [Slang]
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String, v. i. To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]