skein (2), ska in, skeyne

[ Ir.sgainne aflaw, crack, fi ure, a skein or clue of thread; O. French escaigne.] 1. A shaved split of osier. 2. A flock of wild geese or swans. "A punt-gun was fired into a skein of brent geese and wild swans." -London Daily Telegraph. 3. Spinning : A quantity of yarn from the reel, of silk, wool, cotton, or flax. Of cotton it contains eighty threads of fifty-four inches; seventeen skeins make a hank. "Drew from the reel on the table a snowy skein of her spinning." Long fellow: Miles Standish, viii. 4. Vehicle : A metallic strengthening band or thimble on the wooden arm of an axle. The ordinary skein consists of three straps, let into slots in the arm.