A bead, esp. one of the beads of a rosary (so French grain); also, a pearl. Obsolete.

(?) beads of juniper wood.

(The plural is commonly used in sense of a string of beads for the neck; formerly the singular seems to have been occasionally so used.)

a stone of varying descriptions, typically having a naturally formed hole and used as a bead or amulet (see snake-stone, n.).

(a) a stone used as a bead, or of which beads are made; (b) Zoology (see quot. 1896).

a bead worn as an amulet, believed to be generated by a snake or snakes (see adder-stone n.).

Small cylindrical beads made from shells and strung together, used by some eastern North American Indian peoples for trade and ornament, and by…

With singular or plural agreement. Small cylindrical beads made from shells and strung together, used by some eastern North American Indian peoples…

Transferred senses. A string of beads, pearls, and the like; also the material on which they are strung.