Some for very nede / Layde downe askeyne of threde, / And some askeyne of yarne;[…]
1523,John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell,[…]”, inAlexander Dyce, editor,The Poetical Works of John Skelton:[…], volume I, London:Thomas Rodd,[…], published1843,→OCLC,page393, lines798–800:
Reche me thatskane of tewly sylk; / And, Wynde me that botowme of such an hew, / Grene, rede, tawny, whyte, blak, purpill, and blew.
No vvhy art thou then exaſperate, thou idle immaterialskiene of ſleiue ſilke, thou greene ſacenet flap for a ſore eye, thou toſſell of a Prodigals purſe—thou[…]
No, why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterialskein of sleeve silk, thou greene sarsenet flap for a sore eye, thou tassel of a prodigal's purse—thou[…]
VVhat is ſhe heire to? a braſſe thimble, and / Askeane of brovvn thread?
1704, [Daniel Defoe],Giving Alms No Charity, and Employing the Poor a Grievance to the Nation,[…], London: Printed, and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster,→OCLC,page16:
Suppoſe novv a VVork-houſe for Employment of Poor Children, ſets them to ſpinning of VVorſted.—For everySkein of VVorſted theſe Poor Children Spin, there muſt be aSkein the leſs Spun by ſome poor Family or Perſon that ſpun it before;[…] 'tis only the tranſpoſing the Manufacture fromColcheſter toLondon, and taking the Bread out of the Mouths of the Poor ofEſſex to put it into the Mouths of the Poor ofMiddleſex.
1798, John Ebers, “Knouel”, inThe New and Complete Dictionary of the German and English Languages[…], volume II (H–R of the German Alphabet Explained in English), Leipzig, Saxony:[…]Brietkopf and Haertel,→OCLC,page360, column 1:
Knouel, der, oder Kna̔uel, a Bottom or Clevv of Thread or of Yarn, a Hank, aSkain of Yarn or Thread.
The aim of the rope-maker is to unite the strings of a great number of fibres.[…] This is done by twisting or twining them together, which causes them to compress each other.[…] Consequently, if we pull at this twistedskain, we shall not separate it by drawing one parcel out from among the rest, but the whole fibres will break; and if the distribution of the fibres has been very equable, theskain will be nearly of the same strength in every part.
[A] sharp-looking old dame,[…] inhabited a "laigh[low] shop,"anglicé[in English], a cellar, opening to the High-street by a strait and steep stair, at the bottom of which she sold tape, thread, needles,skeans of worsted, coarse linen cloth, and such feminine gear, to those who had the courage and skill to descend to the profundity of her dwelling, without falling headlong themselves, or throwing down any of the numerous articles which, piled on each side of the descent, indicated the profession of the trader below.
“How horribly unjust of you!” cried Lord Henry, tilting his hat back and looking up at the little clouds that, like ravelledskeins of glossy white silk, were drifting across the hollowed turquoise of the summer sky.
The embroidery, which was a matter for thought, the design being difficult and the colours wanting consideration, brought lapses into the dialogue when she seemed to be engrossed in herskeins of silk, or, with head a little drawn back and eyes narrowed, considered the effect of the whole.
"He did have a beard, sir," replied Dorcas, smiling. "And well I know it, for he borrowed twoskeins of my black wool to make it with! And I’m sure it looked wonderfully natural at a distance.[…]"
2018, Laurence Rose, “France”, inThe Long Spring: Tracking the Arrival of Spring through Europe, London:Bloomsbury Wildlife,→ISBN,page111:
High above the swallows and 2 miles or so out into the Channel was askein of geese, probably brent geese on the first day of their emigration from the estuaries of the Channel coast towards the high Arctic tundra of Spitsbergen or Russia.
[2019 June 6, “Newsround: A Gaggle, a Confusion and a Conspiracy – Bizarre Animal Collective Group Names”, inCBBC,BBC[1], archived fromthe original on14 August 2025:
A group of geese is called a gaggle.[…] They're only referred to as a gaggle when they're on land. When they're flying in formation they can be referred to as askein.]
Not that I ſee through his perplexed plots, / And hidden ends, nor that my parts depend / Vpon the vnvvinding this ſo knottedskeane, / Doe I beſeech your patience.
They diſentangle from the puzzledſkein / In vvhich obſcurity has vvrapp'd them up, / The threads of politic and ſhrevvd deſign / That ran through all his purposes,[…]
But first a little patience; first undo / This tangled thread, and wind it to a clue. / Ah, gentle! 'tis as weak as spider'sskein; / And shouldst thou break it—What, is it done so clean?
He watched her pretty and unconscious munching through theskeins of smoke that pervaded the tent, and Tess Durbeyfield did not divine, as she innocently looked down at the roses in her bosom, that there behind the blue narcotic haze sat the 'tragic mischief' of her drama—he who was to be the blood-red ray in the spectrum of her young life.
But when she turned her thoughts to Morningside Park she perceived the tangledskein of life was now to be further complicated by his romantic importunity.
The practical application of what I have said is very close to the problem which I am investigating. It is a tangledskein, you understand, and I am looking for a loose end.
[S]cience is a complexskein, intricately interknotted across the artificial boundaries we draw only that we may the more easily encompass its parts in our mind. Pick up any thread of thatskein and the whole structure will follow.
2005,Tony Judt, “The Social Democratic Hour”, inPostwar: A History of Europe since 1945, New York, N.Y.:The Penguin Press,→ISBN, part 2 (Prosperity and Its Discontents: 1953–1971),page376:
Then, beginning in 1959, theskein of convention began to unravel.
1950 March 4, “Three Tele Nets All-out to Grab Frigidaire Show”, in Roger S. Littleford Jr., editor,The Billboard: The World’s Foremost Amusement Weekly, volume62, number 9, Cincinnati, Oh.: Roger S. Littleford Jr.; William D. Littleford,→OCLC,page 5, column 3:
All three teleskeins are pitching furiously to snag the super Easter Day tele show to be bankrolled by Frigidaire, but no decision has been reached at press time.[…] Bankroller will buy time on theskein delivering the largest number of live coaxial outlets, but none of the webs are as yet able to make definite commitments.
1963,Radio Television Daily, volume93, New York, N.Y.: Scheuer Publications,→OCLC, page 5, column 4:
Under section 7 of Act March 3, 1883, referring to section 2907, Rev. St., ifskeining worsted or mohair yarns is necessary to render them merchantable yarns, the cost ofskeining is a part of the value of the goods, and subject to duty. Ifskeining is necessary only for convenience in transportation from the producer to the consumer, it is a charge for putting up, preparing, and packing for shipment, and the extra cost ofskeining is not to be added to the other costs in computing the duty.
Waterskeined the landscape. The Shannon River, lost since Limerick city, was drawing nearer to name the airport, and a tributary quickened its way towards it.
1836, Luke Hebert, “BASKET”, inThe Engineer’s and Mechanic’s Encyclopædia, Comprehending Practical Illustrations of the Machinery and Processes Employed in Every Description of Manufacture of the British Empire.[…], volume I, London: Thomas Kelly,[…],→OCLC,pages153–154:
[F]or the finer work, as table-mats, fruit and work-baskets, and the like, the osiers are divided into four parts, lengthways, which are called splits, and these are afterwards reduced to various degrees of fineness, when they are calledskeins.
1862,Thomas Hughes, “The Struggle for Kansas. The Substance of Two Lectures Delivered at the Working Men’s College, Great Ormond Street.”, inJ[ohn] M[alcolm Forbes] Ludlow,A Sketch of the History of the United States from Independence to Secession.[…], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; London:Macmillan and Co.,→OCLC,page345:
On November 21, Dow, one of the free-state settlers went to the blacksmith's shop unarmed, carrying a waggonskein to be repaired. While he was at the shop, Coleman and Buckley of Missouri, and another pro-slavery man came up, all armed, and an angry discussion followed.
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2025;“skein,n.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
skein (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia