string

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together.
2. (countable, uncountable) Any similar long, thin and flexible object.
3. (countable, uncountable) Any similar long, thin and flexible object.
4. (countable, uncountable) 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.
5. (countable) A cohesive substance taking the form of a string.
6. (countable) A series of items or events.
7. (countable) The members of a sports team or squad regarded as most likely to achieve success. (Perhaps metaphorical as the "strings" that hold the squad together.) Often first string, second string etc.
8. (countable) In various games and competitions, a certain number of turns at play, of rounds, etc.
9. (collective, countable, uncountable) A drove of horses, or a group of racehorses kept by one owner or at one stable.
10. (countable) An ordered sequence of text characters stored consecutively in memory and capable of being processed as a single entity.
11. (countable, metonymically) A stringed instrument.
12. (countable, plural-normally, uncountable) The stringed instruments as a section of an orchestra, especially those played by a bow, or the persons playing those instruments.
13. (countable, figuratively, in-plural, uncountable) The conditions and limitations in a contract collectively.
14. (countable) A tiny one-dimensional string-like entity, the main object of study in string theory, a branch of theoretical physics.
15. (countable, slang, uncountable) Cannabis or marijuana.
16. (countable, uncountable) Part of the game of billiards, where the order of the play is determined by testing who can get a ball closest to the bottom rail by shooting it onto the end rail.
17. (countable, historical, uncountable) The buttons strung on a wire by which the score is kept.
18. (broadly, countable, uncountable) The points made in a game of billiards.
19. (countable, uncountable) 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; also called the string line.
20. (countable, uncountable) A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.
21. (archaic, countable, uncountable) A fibre, as of a plant; a little fibrous root.
22. (archaic, countable, uncountable) A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
23. (countable, uncountable) A board supporting steps
24. (countable, uncountable) An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.
25. (countable, uncountable) The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericarp of leguminous plants.
26. (countable, uncountable) A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.
27. (countable, uncountable) A stringcourse.
28. (countable, dated, slang, uncountable) A hoax; a fake story.
29. (countable, slang, uncountable) Synonym of stable (“group of prostitutes managed by one pimp”).
30. (countable, uncountable) A column of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid (using the mud pumps) and torque (using the kelly drive or top drive) to the drill bit.

Verb

1. (transitive) To put (items) on a string.
2. (transitive) To put strings on (something).
3. (intransitive) To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.
4. (intransitive) To drive the ball against the end of the table and back, in order to determine which player is to open the game.
5. To deliberately state that a certain bird is present when it is not; to knowingly mislead other birders about the occurrence of a bird, especially a rarity; to misidentify a common bird as a rare species.

Synonyms

rope

🪢

cord

thread

🧵

line

twine

band

tie

yarn

🧶

chain

series

lace

row

strand

chord

sequence

knot

🪢

ribbon

🎀

bunch

wire

train

🚋

fibre

tape

fiber

stripe

succession

sinew

cable

vine

file

strap

thin rope

bind

bowed stringed instrument

drawing string

string along

filament

string up

draw

drawstring

cluster

stringed instrument

set

run

bandage

belt

rank

queue

relate

rootlet

spade

Translations

corde

🪢

Schnur

corda

🪢

cuerda

ficelle

Saite

🪢

spago

corda

🪢

stringa

🪢

cordicella

enfiler

🧵

cadena

koord

🪢

χορδή

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stɹɪŋ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: string

Inherited from Old English: strenġ

Cognate with Scots: string

Cognate with Dutch: streng

Cognate with Low German: strenge

Cognate with German: Strang

Cognate with Danish: streng

Cognate with Swedish: sträng

Cognate with Icelandic: strengur

Cognate with Latvian: stringt

Cognate with Latin: stringō

Cognate with Ancient Greek: στραγγαλόομαι

Cognate with Ancient Greek: στραγγός

Inherited from Middle English: stryngen

In summary

From Middle English string, streng, strynge, from Old English strenġ, from Proto-West Germanic *strangi, from Proto-Germanic *strangiz (“string”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“rope, cord, strand; to tighten”).
Cognate with Scots string (“string”), Dutch streng (“cord, strand”), Low German strenge (“strand, cord, rope”), German Strang (“strand, cord, rope”), Danish streng (“string”), Swedish sträng (“string, cord, wire”), Icelandic strengur (“string”), Latvian stringt (“to be tight, wither”), Latin stringō (“I tighten”), Ancient Greek στραγγαλόομαι (strangalóomai, “to strangle”), from στραγγάλη (strangálē, “halter”), Ancient Greek στραγγός (strangós, “tied together, entangled, twisted”).

Sentences

Following this string of changes , the Supremes had mixed success on the pop charts .

This movement shows the influence of Franz Schubert's String Quintet .