The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Thread \Thread\ (thr[e^]d), n. [OE. threed, [thorn]red, AS.
   [thorn]r[=ae]d; akin to D. draad, G. draht wire, thread, OHG.
   dr[=a]t, Icel. [thorn]r[=a][eth]r a thread, Sw. tr[*a]d, Dan.
   traad, and AS. [thorn]r[=a]wan to twist. See Throw, and cf.
   Third.]
   1. A very small twist of flax, wool, cotton, silk, or other
      fibrous substance, drawn out to considerable length; a
      compound cord consisting of two or more single yarns
      doubled, or joined together, and twisted; also, one fiber
      of a cord composed of multiple fibers.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A filament of any substance, as of glass, gold or silver;
      a filamentous part of an object, such as a flower; a
      component fiber of any or of any fibrous substance, as of
      bark.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The prominent part of the spiral of a screw or nut; the
      rib. See Screw, n., 1.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Fig.) Something continued in a long course or tenor; a
      recurrent theme or related sequence of events in a larger
      story; as the thread of a story, or of life, or of a
      discourse. --Bp. Burnet.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Fig.: Composition; quality; fineness. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            A neat courtier,
            Of a most elegant thread.             --B. Jonson.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Computers) A related sequence of instructions or actions
      within a program that runs at least in part independent of
      other actions within the program; -- such threads are
      capable of being executed only in oprating systems
      permittnig multitasking.
      [PJC]

   7. (Computers) A sequence of messages posted to an on-line
      newsgroup or discussion group, dealing with the same
      topic; -- messages in such a thread typically refer to a
      previous posting, thus allowing their identification as
      part of the thread. Some news-reading programs allow a
      user to follow a single such thread independent of the
      other postings to that newsgroup.
      [PJC]

   Air thread, the fine white filaments which are seen
      floating in the air in summer, the production of spiders;
      gossamer.

   Thread and thrum, the good and bad together. [Obs.] --Shak.

   Thread cell (Zool.), a lasso cell. See under Lasso.

   Thread herring (Zool.), the gizzard shad. See under
      Gizzard.

   Thread lace, lace made of linen thread.

   Thread needle, a game in which children stand in a row,
      joining hands, and in which the outer one, still holding
      his neighbor, runs between the others; -- called also
      thread the needle.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Thread \Thread\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Threaded; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Threading.]
   1. To pass a thread through the eye of; as, to thread a
      needle.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To pass or pierce through as a narrow way; also, to effect
      or make, as one's way, through or between obstacles; to
      thrid.
      [1913 Webster]

            Heavy trading ships . . . threading the Bosphorus.
                                                  --Mitford.
      [1913 Webster]

            They would not thread the gates.      --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To form a thread, or spiral rib, on or in; as, to thread a
      screw or nut.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

thread
    n 1: a fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or
         nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving [syn: thread,
         yarn]
    2: any long object resembling a thin line; "a mere ribbon of
       land"; "the lighted ribbon of traffic"; "from the air the
       road was a grey thread"; "a thread of smoke climbed upward"
       [syn: ribbon, thread]
    3: the connections that link the various parts of an event or
       argument together; "I couldn't follow his train of thought";
       "he lost the thread of his argument" [syn: train of
       thought, thread]
    4: the raised helical rib going around a screw [syn: screw
       thread, thread]
    v 1: to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular
         course; "the river winds through the hills"; "the path
         meanders through the vineyards"; "sometimes, the gout
         wanders through the entire body" [syn: weave, wind,
         thread, meander, wander]
    2: pass a thread through; "thread a needle"
    3: remove facial hair by tying a fine string around it and
       pulling at the string; "She had her eyebrows threaded"
    4: pass through or into; "thread tape"; "thread film"
    5: thread on or as if on a string; "string pearls on a string";
       "the child drew glass beads on a string"; "thread dried
       cranberries" [syn: string, thread, draw]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

157 Moby Thesaurus words for "thread":
   Aralac, Avisco, Celanese, Chemstrand, Dacron, Dynel, Indian file,
   Lastex, Manila, Orlon, Terylene, Velon, Vicara, acetate rayon,
   alpaca, angora, animal fiber, array, articulation,
   artificial fiber, bank, bast, be continuous, buzz, cambric tea,
   capillament, cashmere, catena, catenate, catenation, chain,
   chain reaction, chaining, cilium, cirrus, cobweb, coir,
   concatenate, concatenation, connect, connect up, connection,
   consecution, continuate, continue, continuum, cord, cotton, course,
   cycle, denier, descent, direction, dishwater, drift, drone, ease,
   endless belt, endless round, fiber, fibrilla, filament,
   filamentule, file, filiation, flagellum, flax, floss,
   form a series, gamut, gossamer, gradation, gruel, hair, hank, hemp,
   horsehair, house of cards, hum, inch, join, jute, kapok, line,
   lineage, linen, link, llama hair, maintain continuity, matchwood,
   merino, milk and water, mohair, monotone, motif, near-silk, nexus,
   nylon, oakum, pass, pendulum, periodicity, plenum, plot,
   powder train, progression, queue, raffia, range, rank, rayon,
   recurrence, reed, reticulation, rope of sand, rotation, round,
   routine, row, run, run on, sand castle, scale, sequence, series,
   silk, single file, sisal, skein, spandex, spectrum, spun rayon,
   strand, string, string together, subject, succession, suture,
   swath, tendril, tenor, theme, thesis, threadlet, tier, train,
   train of thought, tussah, twine, water, web, wind, windrow, wool,
   worsted, yarn, zephyr



The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

thread
 n.

    [Usenet, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of topic thread, a more or
    less continuous chain of postings on a single topic. To follow a thread is
    to read a series of Usenet postings sharing a common subject or (more
    correctly) which are connected by Reference headers. The better newsreaders
    can present news in thread order automatically. Not to be confused with the
    techspeak sense of ?thread?, e.g. a lightweight process.

    Interestingly, this is far from a neologism. The OED says: ?That which
    connects the successive points in anything, esp. a narrative, train of
    thought, or the like; the sequence of events or ideas continuing throughout
    the whole course of anything;? Citations are given going back to 1642!


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

thread
threaded
threading

   1. See multithreading.

   2. See threaded code.

   3. topic thread.

   [Jargon File]