Word: string Part of Speech: noun Etymology: 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 (“to tighten”), Ancient Greek στραγγαλόομαι (strangalóomai, “to strangle”), from στραγγάλη (strangálē, “halter”), Ancient Greek στραγγός (strangós, “tied together, entangled, twisted”). Pronunciation: /ˈstɹɪŋ/, [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷɪŋ] ~ [ˈst̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷɪŋ] 1. A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string. 2. Any similar long, thin and flexible object. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a violin string Example: a bowstring 3. Any similar long, thin and flexible object. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a string of shells or beads Example: a string of sausages 5. A cohesive substance taking the form of a string. Labels: countable Example: The string of spittle dangling from his chin was most unattractive 6. A series of items or events. Labels: countable Example: In 1933, disgusted and discouraged after a string of commercial failures, Clara quit the film business forever. She was twenty-six. Example: a string of successes 7. A slightly elevated (long, thin) peat ridge in a bog. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Strings and Flarks[:] The two most conspicuous land form patterns in water tracks are fields of tree islands and networks of strings and flarks. The origin of strings and flarks is a controversial subject that has been treated extensively[…] Example: […] strings and flarks are again aligned along the contours, but the flarks are much wider and are often drier. Where the flarks are flooded they are curiously reminiscent of a system of terraced paddy fields […] 8. 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. Labels: countable 9. In various games and competitions, a certain number of turns at play, of rounds, etc. Labels: countable 10. A drove of horses, or a group of racehorses kept by one owner or at one stable. Labels: collective, countable, uncountable 11. An ordered sequence of text characters stored consecutively in memory and capable of being processed as a single entity. Labels: countable 12. A stringed instrument. Labels: countable, metonymically 13. The stringed instruments as a section of an orchestra, especially those played by a bow, or the persons playing those instruments. Labels: countable, plural-normally, uncountable 14. The conditions and limitations in a contract collectively. Labels: countable, figuratively, in-plural, uncountable Example: no strings attached Example: But he added: "The RDG offer contains more strings than a harp, including some which have never previously been discussed. It also omits significant points that had previously been negotiated." 15. A tiny one-dimensional string-like entity, the main object of study in string theory, a branch of theoretical physics. Labels: countable 16. Cannabis or marijuana. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable 17. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable 18. The buttons strung on a wire by which the score is kept. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable 19. The points made in a game of billiards. Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable 20. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable 21. A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Many of those that pretend to be great Rabbies in these studies have scarce saluted them from the strings, and the titlepage. 22. A fibre, as of a plant; a little fibrous root. Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable Example: Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom. 23. A nerve or tendon of an animal body. Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable Example: The string of his tongue was loosed. 24. A board supporting steps Labels: countable, uncountable 25. An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it. Labels: countable, uncountable 26. The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericarp of leguminous plants. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the strings of beans 27. A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a single miner is often found pursuing his solitary labours at a string or thin vein of ore 28. A stringcourse. Labels: countable, uncountable 29. A hoax; a fake story. Labels: countable, dated, slang, uncountable 30. Synonym of stable (“group of prostitutes managed by one pimp”). Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: They were turning tricks, doing drugs, and generally little better off than they had been before, except that they were keeping more of their money. But they seemed lonely, too, without the company of their pimp and the rest of his string. 31. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable