Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

6 VERB If you thread your way through a group of people or things, or thread through it, you move through it carefully or slowly, changing direction frequently as you move. □ [V n prep] Slowly, she threaded her way back through the moving mass of bodies. □ [V prep] We threaded through a network of back streets.

7 VERB If you thread a long thin object through something, you pass it through one or more holes or narrow spaces. □ [V n + through ] …threading the laces through the eyelets of his shoes. □ [V n + into ] These instruments allow doctors to thread microscopic telescopes into the digestive tract.

8 VERB If you thread small objects such as beads onto a string or thread, you join them together by pushing the string through them. □ [V n prep] Wipe the mushrooms clean and thread them on a string.

9 VERB When you thread a needle, you put a piece of thread through the hole in the top of the needle in order to sew with it. □ [V n] I sit down, thread a needle, snip off an old button.

10 PHRASE If you say that something is hanging by a thread , you mean that it is in a very uncertain state and is unlikely to survive or succeed. □  The fragile peace was hanging by a thread as thousands of hardliners took to the streets.

11 PHRASE If you pick up the threads of an activity, you start it again after an interruption. If you pick up the threads of your life , you become more active again after a period of failure or bad luck. □  Many women have been able to pick up the threads of their former career.

thread|bare /θre dbeə ^r /

1 ADJ Threadbare clothes, carpets, and other pieces of cloth look old, dull, and very thin, because they have been worn or used too much. □  She sat cross-legged on a square of threadbare carpet.

2 ADJ If you describe an activity, an idea, or an argument as threadbare , you mean that it is very weak, or inadequate, or old and no longer interesting. □  …the government's threadbare domestic policies.

threat ◆◆◇ /θre t/ (threats )

1 N‑VAR A threat to a person or thing is a danger that something unpleasant might happen to them. A threat is also the cause of this danger. □ [+ to ] Some couples see single women as a threat to their relationships. □ [+ of ] The Hurricane Center warns people not to take the threat of tropical storms lightly. [Also + from ]

2 N‑COUNT [oft N to-inf] A threat is a statement by someone that they will do something unpleasant, especially if you do not do what they want. □  He may be forced to carry out his threat to resign. □ [+ by ] The writer remains in hiding after threats by former officials of the ousted dictatorship.

3 PHRASE If a person or thing is under threat , there is a danger that something unpleasant might be done to them, or that they might cease to exist. □  His position as leader will be under threat at a party congress due next month. □ [+ of ] She lives daily under threat of violence. [Also + from ] SYNONYMS threat NOUN 1

danger:…the dangers of smoking.

risk:There is a small risk of brain damage from the procedure.

hazard:A new report suggests that chewing-gum may be a health hazard.

threat|en ◆◆◇ /θre t ^ə n/ (threatens , threatening , threatened )