Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STRING, n. [Sax. string; D. and Dan. streng; G. strang; also Dan. strikke; G. strick; connected with strong, L. stringo, from drawing, stretching; Ir. srang, a string; sreangaim, to draw.]

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.]