D defs.my
Menu ☰
Entry 24 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

String

/(strĭng)/ · IPA /stɹɪŋ/
01 n. 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 …
  1. 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.
    “Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string.” — Prior.
  2. 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.
  3. 3.
    A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.
  4. 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.
    “Me softer airs befit, and softer strings Of lute, or viol still.” — Milton.
  5. 5.
    The line or cord of a bow.
    “He twangs the grieving string.” — Pope.
  6. 6.
    A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.
    “Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom.” — Bacon.
  7. 7.
    A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
    “The string of his tongue was loosed.” — Mark vii. 35.
  8. 8.
    An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.(Shipbuilding)
  9. 9.
    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.(Bot.)
  10. 10.
    A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.(Mining)
  11. 11.
    Same as Stringcourse.(Arch.) See: Stringcourse
  12. 12.
    The points made in a game.(Billiards)
  13. 13.
    In various indoor games, a score or tally, sometimes, as in American billiard games, marked by buttons threaded on a string or wire.
  14. 14.
    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.(Billiards & Pool) Also: string line
  15. 15.
    A hoax; a trumped-up or “fake” story.[Slang]
  16. 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.
  17. 17.
    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.(Physics) See: string theory, string theory
Phrases & compounds
String band — a band of musicians using only, or chiefly, stringed instruments.
String beans — A dish prepared from the unripe pods of several kinds of beans; -- so called because the strings are stripped off
To have two strings to one's bow — to have a means or expedient in reserve in case the one employed fails.
02 v. t. To furnish with strings; as, to string a violin.
imp. Strung; p. p. Strung; p. pr. & vb. n. Stringing
  1. 1.
    To furnish with strings; as, to string a violin.[R.]
    “Has not wise nature strung the legs and feet With firmest nerves, designed to walk the street?” — Gay.
  2. 2.
    To put in tune the strings of, as a stringed instrument, in order to play upon it.
    “For here the Muse so oft her harp has strung, That not a mountain rears its head unsung.” — Addison.
  3. 3.
    To put on a string; to file; as, to string beads.
  4. 4.
    To make tense; to strengthen.
    “Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood.” — Dryden.
  5. 5.
    To deprive of strings; to strip the strings from; as, to string beans. See String, n., 9. See: String
  6. 6.
    To hoax; josh; jolly; often used with along; as, we strung him along all day until he realized we were kidding.[Slang]
03 v. i. To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.
  1. 1.
    To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.