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Webster 1913 Edition

String

String

(strĭng)
,
Noun.
[OE.
string
,
streng
, AS.
streng
; akin to D.
streng
, G.
strang
, Icel.
strengr
, Sw.
sträng
, Dan.
straeng
; probably from the adj., E.
strong
(see
Strong
); or perhaps originally meaning, twisted, and akin to E.
strangle
.]
1.
A small cord, a line, a twine, or a slender strip of leather, or other substance, used for binding together, fastening, or tying things; a cord, larger than a thread and smaller than a rope;
as, a shoe
string
; a bonnet
string
; a silken
string
.
Shak.
Round Ormond’s knee thou tiest the mystic
string
.
Prior.
2.
A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence, a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if so arranged; a succession; a concatenation; a chain;
as, a
string
of shells or beads; a
string
of dried apples; a
string
of houses; a
string
of arguments.
“A string of islands.”
Gibbon.
3.
A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.
Milton.
4.
The cord of a musical instrument, as of a piano, harp, or violin; specifically (
pl.
), the stringed instruments of an orchestra, in distinction from the wind instruments;
as, the
strings
took up the theme
.
“An instrument of ten strings.”
Ps. xxx. iii. 2.
Me softer airs befit, and softer
strings

Of lute, or viol still.
Milton.
5.
The line or cord of a bow.
Ps. xi. 2.
He twangs the grieving
string
.
Pope.
6.
A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.
Duckweed putteth forth a little
string
into the water, from the bottom.
Bacon.
7.
A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
The
string
of his tongue was loosed.
Mark vii. 35.
8.
(Shipbuilding)
An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.
9.
(Bot.)
The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericap of leguminous plants, and which is readily pulled off;
as, the
strings
of beans
.
10.
(Mining)
A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.
Ure.
11.
(Arch.)
Same as
Stringcourse
.
12.
(Billiards)
The points made in a game.
String band
(Mus.)
,
a band of musicians using only, or chiefly, stringed instruments.
–
String beans
.
(a)
A dish prepared from the unripe pods of several kinds of beans; – so called because the strings are stripped off
.
(b)
Any kind of beans in which the pods are used for cooking before the seeds are ripe; usually, the low bush bean.
–
To have two strings to one's bow
,
to have a means or expedient in reserve in case the one employed fails.

String

(strĭng)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Strung
(strŭng)
;
p. p.
Strung
(
R.
Stringed
(strĭngd)
);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stringing
.]
1.
To furnish with strings;
as, to
string
a violin
.
Has not wise nature
strung
the legs and feet
With firmest nerves, designed to walk the street?
Gay.
2.
To put in tune the strings of, as a stringed instrument, in order to play upon it.
For here the Muse so oft her harp has
strung
,
That not a mountain rears its head unsung.
Addison.
3.
To put on a string; to file;
as, to
string
beads
.
4.
To make tense; to strengthen.
Toil
strung
the nerves, and purified the blood.
Dryden.
5.
To deprive of strings; to strip the strings from;
as, to
string
beans
. See
String
,
Noun.
, 9.

Webster 1828 Edition

String

STRING

,
Noun.
[G., L., drawing, stretching.]
1.
A small rope, line or cord, or a slender strip of lether or other like substance, used for fastening or tying things.
2.
A ribin.
Round Ormonds knee thou tyst the mystic string.
3.
A thread on which any thing is filed; and hence, a line of things; as a string of shells or beads.
4.
The chord of a musical instrument, as of a harpsichord, harp or violin; as an instrument of ten strings.
5.
A fiber, as of a plant.
Duck weed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom.
6.
A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
The string of his tongue was loosed. Mark 7.
[This is not a technical word.]
7.
The line or cord of a bow.
He twangs the quivring string.
8.
A series of things connected or following in succession; any concatenation of things; as a string of arguments; a string of propositions.
9.
In ship-building, the highest range of planks in a ships ceiling, or that between the gunwale and the upper edge of the upper deck ports.
10.
The tough substance that unites the two parts of the pericarp of leguminous plants; as the strings of beans.
To have two strings to the bow, to have two expedients for executing a project or gaining a purpose; to have a double advantage, or to have two views. [In the latter sense, unusual.]

STRING

,
Verb.
T.
pret. and pp. strung.
1.
To furnish with strings.
Has not wise nature strung the legs and feet?
2.
To put in tune a stringed instrument.
For here the muse so oft her harp has strung--
3.
To file; to put on a line; as, to string beads or pearls.
4.
To make tense; to strengthen.
Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood.
5.
To deprive of strings; as, to string beans.

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