1809 July 163 These vessels are the life therefore, from which all flower branches grow, and all root threads proceed.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien i. vii. 141 His grey thirsty spirit drew power out of the earth and spread like fine root-threads in the ground.
2007 (Nexis) 13 Jan. (Weekend) b4 If you scrape off all the mulch with a mattock or shovel, cutting away the tree mass at the surface, the finer web of root threads will soon rot down inside the mulch.