strings

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of string.

   The old kite was held together with frayed strings.

   He plucked the strings until each one was perfectly in tune.

   Note

   A regular plural, but only some uses of the singular take it. As a material, string is uncountable: a ball of string, tied up with string. The plural counts separate lengths instead, such as the strings of a violin, a racquet's strings or strings of beads. Gathered up collectively, the musical sense becomes the orchestra's string section.

2. 2
   nounplural

   Collectively, the stringed instruments of an orchestra, such as violins, violas, cellos, and double basses.

   Like grouping all the brass instruments together and simply calling them 'the brass.'

   The composer wrote a haunting passage for strings alone.

   As the symphony reached its climax, the strings swelled beneath the brass.

   Note

   The name of an orchestral section, used only in the plural and taking a plural verb: the strings swell, the strings come in. Composers write for strings with no article, much as they write for brass. With the article, the strings means the section or its players as a body, set against the brass or the winds.

3. 3
   nounfigurativelyplural

   Conditions or limitations attached to an offer or arrangement, especially unwelcome ones.

   Like a puppet that moves only when someone pulls its strings.

   The grant came with strings that limited how the money could be spent.

   They accepted the donation warily, alert to any strings the company might attach.

   Similarconditions, stipulations, provisos, catches, restrictions

   Note

   A figure that works through the verb attach: an offer comes with strings attached, or someone attaches strings to a gift. The phrase usually warns of a catch inside something that looks generous, which is why it so often follows but, as in "a good offer, but there are strings attached." Like the orchestral section, it is used only in the plural.

4. 4
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of string.

   The jeweler strings each pearl onto the silk thread by hand.

   A spider strings its web between the two branches overnight.

   Note

   The present-tense -s form is spelled exactly like the plural noun, so only the sentence tells them apart. Compare "she strings the beads" with "the strings of the necklace." It serves every use of the verb alike. That includes transitive ones, such as threading beads or fitting strings to a racquet, and intransitive ones, where a stretched substance or a moving line of people forms a string.

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