STRING, n. [G., L., drawing, stretching.]

1. A small rope, line or cord, or a slender strip of leather or other like substance, used for fastening or tying things.
2. A ribin. Round Ormond's knee thou ty'st the mystic string. – Prior.
3. A thread on which any thing is filed; and hence, a line of things; as, a string of shells or beads. – Addison.
4. The cord of a musical instrument, as of a harpsichord harp or violin; as, an instrument of ten strings. Scripture.
5. A fiber, as of a plant. Duck weed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom. – Bacon.
6. A nerve or tendon of an animal body. The string of his tongue was loosed. – Mark vii. [This is not a technical word.]
7. The line or cord of a bow. He twangs the quiv'ring string. – Pope.
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 ship's ceiling, or that between the gunwale and the upper edge ports. – Mar. Dict.
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.]

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

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. 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.

3. In various indoor games, a score or tally, sometimes, as in American billiard games, marked by buttons threaded on a string or wire.
   
   
   (b)
4. To hoax; josh; jolly.
   
   
   [Slang]
5. To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.
6. 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.
7. 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.

8. The line from behind and over which the cue ball must be played after being out of play as by being pocketed or knocked off the table] -- called also string line.
   
   
   (b)
9. A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.
   
   
   Milton.
10. To put on a string; to file; as, to string beads.
11. A hoax; a trumped-up or "fake" story.
    
    
    [Slang]
12. 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.

13. To make tense; to strengthen.
    
    

    Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood. Dryden.

14. The line or cord of a bow.
    
    
    Ps. xi. 2.

    He twangs the grieving string. Pope.

15. To deprive of strings; to strip the strings from; as, to string beans. See String, n., 9.
16. A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.
    
    

    Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom. Bacon.

17. A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
    
    

    The string of his tongue was loosed. Mark vii. 35.

18. An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.
19. 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.
20. A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.
    
    
    Ure.
21. Same as Stringcourse.
22. 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.