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filament

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.04 sec.
fil·a·ment  (fl-mnt)
n.
1. A fine or thinly spun thread, fiber, or wire.
2. Botany
a. The stalk that bears the anther in a stamen.
b. A chainlike series of cells, as in many algae.
3.
a. A fine wire heated electrically to incandescence in an electric lamp.
b. Electronics A high-resistance wire or ribbon forming the cathode in some thermionic tubes.

[New Latin flmentum, from Late Latin flre, to spin, from Latin flum, thread; see gwh- in Indo-European roots.]

fila·mentous (-mnts), fila·menta·ry (-mnt-r, -mntr) adj.

filament
Noun
1. the thin wire inside a light bulb that emits light
2. Electronics a high-resistance wire forming the cathode in some valves
3. a single strand of fibre
4. Bot the stalk of a stamen [Latin filum thread]
filamentary adj

filament  (fl-mnt)
1. A fine or slender thread, wire, or fiber.
2. The part of a stamen that supports the anther of a flower; the stalk of a stamen. See more at flower.
3.
a. A fine wire that gives off radiation when an electric current is passed through it, usually to provide light, as in an incandescent bulb, or to provide heat, as in a vacuum tube.
b. A wire that acts as the cathode in some electron tubes when it is heated with an electric current.
4. Any of the dark, sinuous lines visible through certain filters on the disk of the Sun. Filaments are solar prominences that are viewed against the solar surface rather than being silhouetted along the outer edges of the disk. See more at prominence.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.filamentfilament - a very slender natural or synthetic fiber
barb - one of the parallel filaments projecting from the main shaft of a feather
cobweb, gossamer - filaments from a web that was spun by a spider
chromatid - one of two identical strands into which a chromosome splits during mitosis
myofibril, myofibrilla, sarcostyle - one of many contractile filaments that make up a striated muscle fiber
rhizoid - any of various slender filaments that function as roots in mosses and ferns and fungi etc
hypha - any of the threadlike filaments forming the mycelium of a fungus
paraphysis - a sterile simple or branched filament or hair borne among sporangia; may be pointed or clubbed
fiber, fibre - a slender and greatly elongated substance capable of being spun into yarn
2.filament - the stalk of a stamen
stalk, stem - a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ
3.filamentfilament - a threadlike structure (as a chainlike series of cells)
anatomical structure, bodily structure, body structure, complex body part, structure - a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing; "he has good bone structure"
pilus, hair - any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal; "there is a hair in my soup"
4.filament - a thin wire (usually tungsten) that is heated white hot by the passage of an electric current
electric light, electric-light bulb, incandescent lamp, light bulb, lightbulb, bulb - electric lamp consisting of a transparent or translucent glass housing containing a wire filament (usually tungsten) that emits light when heated by electricity
conducting wire, wire - a metal conductor that carries electricity over a distance

filament
noun strand, string, wire, fibre, thread, staple, wisp, cilium Biology, Zoology fibril, pile
Translations
Spanish filament [ˈfɪləmənt] n (ELEC) → filamento
French filament [ˈfɪləmənt] nfilament m
German filament [ˈfɪləmənt] nGlühfaden m;
(Bot) → Staubfaden m

Italian filament [ˈfɪləmənt] nfilamento

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Not a filament, not a ribbon, however thin they might be, but kept as straight as a rod of iron.
Filament by filament, these secret and undreamable bonds were being established.
Meanwhile Katharine and Rodney drew further ahead, and Denham kept, if that is the right expression for an involuntary action, one filament of his mind upon them, while with the rest of his intelligence he sought to understand what Sandys was saying.
 
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