From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishskeinskein /skeɪn/ noun [countable] 1 DHa long loosely wound piece of thread, wool, or yarn2 literary a complicated series of things that are related to each other SYN web a skein of lies
Examples from the Corpus
skein• There was a sadness, formless as a skein, enveloping us.• Priscillian's own teaching was characterised by a marked strain of Nestorian thought, as well as by skeins of Gnostic Manichaeanism.• Goneril slunk into the kitchen and wound her body like a fat skein of wool around my feet.• Phagu clipped the goats and wound the hair into skeins which he would sell for ready cash in town.• A knotted skein of nylon straps was looped round his chest.• The runway had upon it a light skein of mist, and he sailed through it and up into the high air.• But now, the old skein of mutual responsibility was unraveling.• He rose, walked round the table and picked up the skein.Origin skein (1400-1500) Old French escaigne 