to have two strings to one's bow

1 definition found

to have two strings to one's bow - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  String \String\ (str[i^]ng), n. [OE. string, streng, AS. streng;
     akin to D. streng, G. strang, Icel. strengr, Sw. str[aum]ng,
     Dan. straeng; probably from the adj., E. strong (see
     Strong); or perhaps originally meaning, twisted, and akin
     to E. strangle.]
     1. A small cord, a line, a twine, or a slender strip of
        leather, or other substance, used for binding together,
        fastening, or tying things; a cord, larger than a thread
        and smaller than a rope; as, a shoe string; a bonnet
        string; a silken string. --Shak.
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              Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string.
                                                    --Prior.
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     2. A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are
        strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence,
        a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if
        so arranged; a succession; a concatenation; a chain; as, a
        string of shells or beads; a string of dried apples; a
        string of houses; a string of arguments. "A string of
        islands." --Gibbon.
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     3. A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are
        held together. --Milton.
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     4. The cord of a musical instrument, as of a piano, harp, or
        violin; specifically (pl.), the stringed instruments of an
        orchestra, in distinction from the wind instruments; as,
        the strings took up the theme. "An instrument of ten
        strings." --Ps. xxx. iii. 2.
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              Me softer airs befit, and softer strings
              Of lute, or viol still.               --Milton.
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     5. The line or cord of a bow. --Ps. xi. 2.
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              He twangs the grieving string.        --Pope.
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     6. A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.
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              Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the
              water, from the bottom.               --Bacon.
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     7. A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
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              The string of his tongue was loosed.  --Mark vii.
                                                    35.
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     8. (Shipbuilding) An inside range of ceiling planks,
        corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and
        bolted to it.
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     9. (Bot.) The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves
        of the pericap of leguminous plants, and which is readily
        pulled off; as, the strings of beans.
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     10. (Mining) A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic
         vein. --Ure.
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     11. (Arch.) Same as Stringcourse.
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     12. (Billiards) The points made in a game.
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     13.
         (a) In various indoor games, a score or tally, sometimes,
             as in American billiard games, marked by buttons
             threaded on a string or wire.
         (b) In various games, competitions, etc., a certain
             number of turns at play, of rounds, etc.
             [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     14. (Billiards & Pool)
         (a) The line from behind and over which the cue ball must
             be played after being out of play as by being
             pocketed or knocked off the table; -- called also
             string line.
         (b) Act of stringing for break.
             [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     15. A hoax; a trumped-up or "fake" story. [Slang]
         [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     16. a sequence of similar objects or events sufficiently
         close in time or space to be perceived as a group; a
         string of accidents; a string of restaurants on a
         highway.
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     17. (Physics) A one-dimensional string-like mathematical
         object used as a means of representing the properties of
         fundamental particles in string theory, one theory of
         particle physics; such hypothetical objects are
         one-dimensional and very small (10^-33 cm) but exist in
         more than four spatial dimensions, and have various modes
         of vibration. Considering particles as strings avoids
         some of the problems of treating particles as points, and
         allows a unified treatment of gravity along with the
         other three forces (electromagnetism, the weak force, and
         the strong force) in a manner consistent with quantum
         mechanics. See also string theory.
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     String band (Mus.), a band of musicians using only, or
        chiefly, stringed instruments.
  
     String beans.
         (a) A dish prepared from the unripe pods of several kinds
             of beans; -- so called because the strings are
             stripped off.
         (b) Any kind of beans in which the pods are used for
             cooking before the seeds are ripe; usually, the low
             bush bean.
  
     To have two strings to one's bow, to have a means or
        expedient in reserve in case the one employed fails.
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