- [uncountable, countable] thread that has been spun, used for knitting, making cloth, etc.
- The sweaters are hand-knitted in cotton, linen or wool yarns.
- There's a knot in the yarn.
Extra Examples- The yarn has to be threaded through the needle.
- The yarn is woven into a coarse fabric.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- fine
- thick
- coloured/colored
- …
- length
- piece
- ball
- …
- knit
- knit with
- spin
- …
- in a/the yarn
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- [countable] (informal) a long story, especially one that is exaggerated or invented
- He used to spin yarns (= tell stories) about his time in the army.
Extra ExamplesTopics Literature and writingc2- He tried to spin us some yarn about how he was collecting for the church. It was all lies.
- He went on to spin an entertaining yarn about his army days.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- entertaining
- good
- gripping
- …
- spin (somebody)
- tell (somebody)
- yarn about
Word OriginOld English gearn; of Germanic origin, related to Dutch garen.
Idioms
See yarn in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarypitch a story/line/yarn (to somebody)
- (informal) to tell somebody a story or make an excuse that is not true
Check pronunciation:
yarn