1. A length of yarn wound around a reel.2. A flock of geese, ducks, or other similar birds in flight.
3. Something suggesting complex twists and tangles.
When in flight, geese are called a skein; when not in flight, a gaggle; and when flying in a V formation, they are referred to as a wedge. Ducks take a number of terms too: while in water, they are called a paddling.
"The article, described as a tale of 'bank fraud, oil trading, and bombs,' prompted Norman to follow a tangled skein of connections to a second, much broader, story."
Linda Grant; Newstrends: A Story You Won't Read in Forbes; Fortune (New York); Oct 2, 1995."Arrowhead skeins of geese fly northward and land at Walker Bay to breed."
Bruce Thorson; Boom and Bus; Canadian Geographic (Ottawa); Mar 13, 1998.
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