skein

noun

1. A quantity of thread, yarn, etc., wound on a reel then removed and loosely knotted into an oblong shape; a skein of cotton is formed by eighty turns of thread around a reel with a fifty-four inch diameter.

   “Some for very nede / Layde downe a skeyne of threde, / And some a skeyne of yarne; […]”

   “Reche me that skane of tewly sylk; / And, Wynde me that botowme of such an hew, / Grene, rede, tawny, whyte, blak, purpill, and blew.”

   “Brau'd in mine ovvne houſe vvith a skeine of thred: / Avvay thou Ragge, thou quantitie, thou remnant, / Or I ſhall ſo be-mete thee vvith thy yard, / As thou ſhalt thinke on prating vvhil'ſt thou liu'ſt: […]”

   “No vvhy art thou then exaſperate, thou idle immaterial skiene of ſleiue ſilke, thou greene ſacenet flap for a ſore eye, thou toſſell of a Prodigals purſe—thou […]”

   “VVhat is ſhe heire to? a braſſe thimble, and / A skeane of brovvn thread?”

2. (broadly)A thing resembling a skein (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) of thread, yarn, etc.
3. (UK, broadly, collective, dialectal)A thing resembling a skein (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) of thread, yarn, etc.

   “High above the swallows and 2 miles or so out into the Channel was a skein of geese, probably brent geese on the first day of their emigration from the estuaries of the Channel coast towards the high Arctic tundra of Spitsbergen or Russia.”

   “A group of geese is called a gaggle. […] They're only referred to as a gaggle when they're on land. When they're flying in formation they can be referred to as a skein.”

4. (also, attributive, broadly, obsolete)A thing resembling a skein (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) of thread, yarn, etc.
5. (figuratively)A tangle, a weave, a web.

   “Not that I ſee through his perplexed plots, / And hidden ends, nor that my parts depend / Vpon the vnvvinding this ſo knotted skeane, / Doe I beſeech your patience.”

   “They diſentangle from the puzzled ſkein / In vvhich obſcurity has vvrapp'd them up, / The threads of politic and ſhrevvd deſign / That ran through all his purposes, […]”

   “But first a little patience; first undo / This tangled thread, and wind it to a clue. / Ah, gentle! 'tis as weak as spider's skein; / And shouldst thou break it—What, is it done so clean?”

   “[…] Achilles Tatius, with a feeling of much insecurity, awaited the unwinding of the perilous skein of state politics, […]”

   “This evening Bathsheba was unusually excited, her red cheeks and lips contrasting lustrously with the mazy skeins of her shadowy hair.”

6. (figuratively)A winning streak.
7. (US, dated, figuratively)A series created by a web (“major broadcasting network”).

   “All three tele skeins are pitching furiously to snag the super Easter Day tele show to be bankrolled by Frigidaire, but no decision has been reached at press time. […] Bankroller will buy time on the skein delivering the largest number of live coaxial outlets, but none of the webs are as yet able to make definite commitments.”

   “Three comedy shows from the U.S. are in the CTV lineup: CBS-TV's Phil Silvers and Danny Thomas skeins and NBC-TV's "Harry's Girls."”

8. (transitive)A thin strip of an osier (“long, pliable twig from a plant, usually a willow”) used in basketmaking.

   “[F]or the finer work, as table-mats, fruit and work-baskets, and the like, the osiers are divided into four parts, lengthways, which are called splits, and these are afterwards reduced to various degrees of fineness, when they are called skeins.”

9. (US, dated, transitive)A metallic strengthening band or thimble on the wooden arm of an axle of a wagon.

   “On November 21, Dow, one of the free-state settlers went to the blacksmith's shop unarmed, carrying a waggon skein to be repaired. While he was at the shop, Coleman and Buckley of Missouri, and another pro-slavery man came up, all armed, and an angry discussion followed.”

verb

1. (transitive)To weave or wind (thread, yarn, etc.) into a skein (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).

   “Under section 7 of Act March 3, 1883, referring to section 2907, Rev. St., if skeining worsted or mohair yarns is necessary to render them merchantable yarns, the cost of skeining is a part of the value of the goods, and subject to duty. If skeining is necessary only for convenience in transportation from the producer to the consumer, it is a charge for putting up, preparing, and packing for shipment, and the extra cost of skeining is not to be added to the other costs in computing the duty.”

2. (figuratively, transitive)To intertwine or weave (something) with another thing.

   “Water skeined the landscape. The Shannon River, lost since Limerick city, was drawing nearer to name the airport, and a tributary quickened its way towards it.”