yarn

[yahrn] /yɑrn/
noun
1.
thread made of natural or synthetic fibers and used for knitting and weaving.
2.
a continuous strand or thread made from glass, metal, plastic, etc.
3.
the thread, in the form of a loosely twisted aggregate of fibers, as of hemp, of which rope is made (rope yarn)
4.
a tale, especially a long story of adventure or incredible happenings:
He spun a yarn that outdid any I had ever heard.
verb (used without object)
5.
Informal. to spin a yarn; tell stories.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English; Old English gearn; cognate with German Garn; akin to Old Norse gǫrn gut, Greek chordḗ intestine, chord1, Lithuanian žarnà entrails, Latin hernia a rupture, Sanskrit hirā vein
Examples from the web for yarn
  • If you're allergic to cats, don't even think about wearing mohair, the fuzzy yarn made from the silky hair of angora goats.
  • If your relaxing activity of choice is knitting, do not choose yarn that sheds.
  • Some are made of fine wool while others are composed of homespun yarn.
  • Their sisters look forward to long lives providing milk for cheese or fiber for yarn.
  • For the lion's mane, cut a piece of yarn long enough to tie around your head with the hood up.
  • In her spare time, she tries not to let her yarn habit get out of control.
  • His keenness to spin a good yarn sometimes pushed him into the realm of cliché.
  • Hand one student a ball of yarn and instruct the student to hold onto the end of the yarn.
  • Tag the covered flower stem with brightly colored yarn.
  • Such is the pulling power of his courage-again, the only word-and that of the picture as an adventure yarn.
British Dictionary definitions for yarn

yarn

/jɑːn/
noun
1.
a continuous twisted strand of natural or synthetic fibres, used in weaving, knitting, etc
2.
(informal) a long and often involved story or account, usually telling of incredible or fantastic events
3.
(informal) spin a yarn
  1. to tell such a story
  2. to make up or relate a series of excuses
verb
4.
(intransitive) to tell such a story or stories
Word Origin
Old English gearn; related to Old High German garn yarn, Old Norse görn gut, Greek khordē string, gut
Word Origin and History for yarn
n.

Old English gearn "spun fiber," from Proto-Germanic *garnan (cf. Old Norse, Old High German, German garn, Middle Dutch gaern, Dutch garen "yarn"), from PIE root *ghere- "intestine, gut, entrail" (cf. Old Norse gorn "gut," Sanskrit hira "vein; entrails," Latin hernia "rupture," Greek khorde "intestine, gut-string," Lithuanian zarna "gut"). The phrase to spin a yarn "to tell a story" is first attested 1812, from a sailors' expression, on notion of telling stories while engaged in sedentary work such as yarn-twisting.

yarn in the Bible

Found only in 1 Kings 10:28, 2 Chr. 1:16. The Heb. word mikveh, i.e., "a stringing together," so rendered, rather signifies a host, or company, or a string of horses. The Authorized Version has: "And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price;" but the Revised Version correctly renders: "And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price."

Idioms and Phrases with yarn

yarn

see: spin a yarn