noun
- thread made of natural or synthetic fibers and used for knitting and weaving.
- a continuous strand or thread made from glass, metal, plastic, etc.
- the thread, in the form of a loosely twisted aggregate of fibers, as of hemp, of which rope is made (rope yarn).
- 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)
- Informal. to spin a yarn; tell stories.
noun
- a continuous twisted strand of natural or synthetic fibres, used in weaving, knitting, etc
- informal a long and often involved story or account, usually telling of incredible or fantastic events
- spin a yarn informal
- to tell such a story
- to make up or relate a series of excuses
verb
- (intr) to tell such a story or stories
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. see spin a yarn.