From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Skein \Skein\, noun [OE. skeyne, OF. escaigne, F. ['e]cagne, probably of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. sgainne, Gael. sgeinnidh thread, small twine; or perhaps the English word is immediately from Celtic.]
1. A quantity of yarn, thread, or the like, put up together, after it is taken from the reel, -- usually tied in a sort of knot.
Note: A skein of cotton yarn is formed by eighty turns of the thread round a fifty-four inch reel.
2. (Wagon Making) A metallic strengthening band or thimble on the wooden arm of an axle. --Knight.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Skein \Skein\, noun (Zo["o]l.) A flight of wild fowl (wild geese or the like). [Prov. Eng.]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
41 Moby Thesaurus words for "skein": animal fiber, artificial fiber, bevy, capillament, charm, cilium, cirrus, cloud, cobweb, covey, denier, fiber, fibrilla, filament, filamentule, flagellum, flight, flock, gaggle, gossamer, hair, hank, hive, jungle, knot, labyrinth, mesh, morass, murmuration, plague, snarl, spring, strand, suture, swarm, tangle, tendril, thread, threadlet, watch, web
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