GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 3 definitions 

  1.       

    String , 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.

      1913 Webster
      Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string.
      Prior.

      1913 Webster
    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.

      1913 Webster
    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.
      Webster 1913 Suppl.
    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.
      Webster 1913 Suppl.
    15. A hoax; a trumped-up or “fake” story. [Slang]
      Webster 1913 Suppl.
    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.
      PJC
    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.
      PJC
      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. 
      1913 Webster
    
      
    
  2.       

    String , v. t. [imp. Strung ; p. p. Strung (R. Stringed ); p. pr. & vb. n. Stringing.]
    1. To furnish with strings; as, to string a violin.
      1913 Webster
      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]
      Webster 1913 Suppl.
      +PJC
    
      
    
  3.       

    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.

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