threaded

1. 1
   adjective

   Having raised spiral ridges of the kind found on screws, bolts, and matching holes.

   Like the spiral grooves on a bottle cap that grip when you turn it.

   The threaded rod screwed easily into its matching socket.

   Each end of the pipe is threaded for a watertight connection.

   Oppositesmooth

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of thread.

   The climber threaded the rope through the metal ring.

   She carefully threaded her way between the parked cars.

   Note

   A regular verb, so one spelling does both jobs: she threaded the needle, and the beads were threaded on silk. The figurative uses favor the pattern threaded one's way through or between something, such as a crowd, a row of obstacles or a precarious situation. Before a noun, a threaded bolt belongs to the screw-ridge adjective, which comes from the noun, not to this verb.

3. 3
   adjective

   Of messages: organized into a thread or threads, so that related replies are grouped together as one conversation.

   Like a string tying together all the replies that belong to one question.

   The email client displays threaded conversations, keeping each reply beneath its original message.

   Once the messages are threaded, you can read an entire discussion in order.

   Note

   In email and messaging software, the word is about grouping. Replies that belong to one exchange are gathered together, often with a count beside the sender's name showing how many messages the conversation holds. Its opposite is unthreaded, where every message sits separately in the list. A message either is threaded or is not, so avoid "more threaded". For replies nested beneath their parents, see the forum-layout meaning.

4. 4
   adjective

   Of messages in an online forum: displayed hierarchically, with each reply nested under its parent message rather than listed in plain time order.

   Like an outline with indented sub-points, each reply tucked under the line it answers.

   The board uses a threaded layout, nesting every reply beneath the comment it responds to.

   When the discussion is threaded, you can see exactly which post each answer addresses.

   Similarnested, hierarchical

   Oppositeflat, linear, chronological

   Note

   Forum software uses the word for a layout choice, a question of how a conversation is drawn on screen. A threaded view builds a tree from parent messages, so a late answer to an early post appears beside that post. A linear view, the usual alternative, simply follows the clock. Where the grouping meaning gathers a conversation together, this one shows its branches.

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