skeg shore (skegshor)

In ship - building, one of the several pieces of plank put up endwise under the skeg of a heavy ship, to steady her after part a little at the moment of launch ing. skeigh, a. and n. skeil, skeill, n. skeinl (skān), n. A Scotch form of shyl . See skeell . [Also ska in, skean (in the last spelling also pron. sken); early mod. E. skeyne, broken Gael. sgain, split, cleave, rend, burst.] 1: A fixed length of any thread or yarn of silk, wool, linen, or cotton, doubled again and again and knotted. The weight of a skein is generally de termined so that the number of skeins in a given quantity of thread can be estimated by the weight. Braid, binding, etc., are sometimes, though more rarely, sold in skeins. Skeyne , of threde. Filipulum. Prompt . Parv ., p. 457. God winds us off the skein , that he may weave us up into the whole piece. Donne , Sermons, xi. 2. A flight or company: said of certain wild fowl, as geese or ducks. ducks. 5666 The curs ran into them as a falcon does into a skein of Kingsley, Hypatia, xii. Of Geese, a "string" or " skein, ” when flying. W. W. Greener, The Gun, p. 533. 3. A shaved split of osier used in wickerwork. E. H. Knight. -4. In a vehicle, the iron head or thimble upon the end of a wooden axletree, inclusive of the straps by which it is attached to the axle, and which, being set in rece es flush with the wood, afford bearing surfaces for the box in the hub. A form of screw