threadworm

[Eng. thread, and worm.] Zool.: A popular name for any species of the Nema to idea (q. v.), from their long, filiform body. By some authorities the name is restricted to Oxyurus vermicular is , the Small Threadworm, which infests man. [OXYURUS, TRICHOCEPHALUS.] *thread-, *thred-die, a . [Eng. thread; -y.] 1. Like thread or filament; filamentous, fibrous. "Branches, like the small and threddie roots of a tree." -Granger: Comment. on Ecclesiastes, p. 325. 2. Containing or carrying thread; covered with thread. IMG:content-1050.png:[blocks in formation] "My foes they bray so loud, and eke threapen so fast." Surrey: Psalm lv. *4. To cry out; to complain. "Some crye upon God, some other threpe that he hat he for go ten theym." -Bp. Fisher: Sermons. threap, s. [THREAP, v.] A vehement or pert i nacious affirmation; an obstinate decision or determination. ( Scotch.) threat, *thret, subst . [A. S. threat =(1) a crowd, crush, or throng of people; (2) a great pre ure, calamity, trouble, a threat, from threát , pa. t. of threótanto pre extremely, to urge, to afflict, to vex; cogn. with Icel. thrjóta (pa. t. thraut , pa. par. throtinn)=to fail, to lack; Goth. usthriutan =to trouble, to vex; O. H. Ger. ardriozan =to tire, to vex; M. H. Ger. erdriezen ; Ger. verdrie en . Fron the same root as Lat. trudo =to push, to shove.] 1. Ord . Lang .: A menace; a denunciation of ill to befall some one; a declaration of an intention or determination to inflict punishment, lo , or pain on another. "There is no terror, Ca ius, in your threats." Shakesp.: Julius Cæsar, iv. 3. 2. Law : Any menace of such a kind as to unsettle the mind of the person threatened, and to take away from his acts that free voluntary action which alone constitutes consent. "By threats and menaces of bodily hurt, through fear of which a man's busine is interrupted. Here the party menaced may either apply to a magistrate to have the offender bound over in recognizances to keep the peace, or he may sue for damages in a civil action." -Black stone: Comment ., bk. iii., ch. 5. *threat, *threte, *thret-1-en, v. t. & i. [A. S. threátian .] [THREAT, 8.] A. Trans .: To threaten, to menace. "The demon Indolence threats overthrow To all that to mankind is good and dear." Thomson: Castle of Indolence , ii. 34. B. In trans.: To threaten; to utter threats. "So gan he threat and manace." Romaunt of the Rose. threaten threat-en, *thret-en, *thret-nen, verb t. & i. (Eng. threat; -en.] A. Transitive : 1. To use threats or menaces to; to menace; to declare an intention or determination of inflicting punishment, pain, or lo on; to terrify or attempt to terrify by menaces; to denounce ill, lo , or mischief to befall another. "Bohemia stops his ears, and threatens them With divers deaths in death." Shakesp.: Winter's Tale, v. 1. *2. To charge or enjoin with menace. "Let us straitly threaten them, that they speak herce forth to no man in this name." - Acts iv. 17. 3. To menace by action; to act as if intending to injure; as, to threaten a man with a stick. *4. To be a source of menace to. "He threatens many that hath injured one." Ben Jonson. 5. To exhibit an appearance of, as of something evil or unpleasant. "The skies threaten present blusters." Shakesp.: Winter's Tale, iii. 3. *6. To announce (evil) as about to happen. "The nearer we approach the threatened period o decay, the more our security increases." -Goldsmith: Polite Learning , ch. i. Frequently used with an infinitive following. "Hath threatened to put me into everlasting liberty." Shakesp.: Merry Wives of Windsor, iii. 3. B. In trans.: To use threats or menaces; to have a threatening appearance. "Though the seas threaten , they are merciful." Shakesp.: Tempest, v. 1. threat-en-er, *threat-ner, s. [Eng. threaten; -er.] One who threatens or menaces. "Ye shall not die: How should ye? by the fruit? it gives you life To knowledge; by the Threatener ?" Milton: P. L., ix. 687. threat-en-ing, *thret-en-ing, *thret-en-yng, *thret-ninge, pr. par., 8., & a. [THREATEN.] A. As pr . par .: (See the verb.) B. As subst.: The act of one who threatens; a threat. "Breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord."- Aots ix. 1. C. As adjective: 1. Indicating a threat or menace. "Not with such a cruel threatening look." Shakesp.: Henry VI., Pt . III . , i. 3. 2. Indicating something evil or unpleasant impending; menacing; as, The sky has a threatening look.