skein

1 of 2

noun

ˈskān 

1

or less commonly skean or skeane

ˈskān 

: a loosely coiled length of yarn or thread wound on a reel

2

: something suggesting the twists or coils of a skein : tangle

3

: a flock of wildfowl (such as geese or ducks) in flight

skein

2 of 2

verb

skeined; skeining; skeins

transitive verb

: to wind into skeins

skein yarn

Examples of skein in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Its shop, housed in an 1890 schoolhouse, sells beautiful knitwear, jewelry, and home goods by the school’s students and instructors, plus skeins of yarn. —Charles Usher, Midwest Living, 26 May 2026

The skein of stock success has ended. —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 25 May 2026

The food is rustic and cosmopolitan at once — bright, monumental salads, whole carrots and leeks baptized by fire, skeins of pasta, and Parmigiano snowing down — but the secret is the seeming effortlessness. —Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 11 May 2026

The Japanese quartet take Ra’s skein of electronic noise as a starting point, wrapping it in a sizzling no wave funk beat, vocals that veer between incantatory and goofy, and bewitching mandalas of chimes and gongs. —Reed Jackson, SPIN, 24 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English skeyne, from Middle French (Picard) escagne, probably from Vulgar Latin *scamnia, from *scamniare to wind yarn, from *scamnium rack for holding bobbins, from Latin scamnum bench, stool — more at shambles

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1775, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for skein

• ane
• bane
• blain
• brain
• cane
• chaine
• cheyne
• deign
• drain
• fain
• fane
• feign

Kids Definition

skein

noun

ˈskān

: a looped length of yarn or thread put up in a loose twist after it is taken from the reel