a very fine thread or threadlike structure; a fiber or fibril: filaments of gold.
a single fibril of natural or synthetic textile fiber, of indefinite length, sometimes several miles long.
a long slender cell or series of attached cells, as in some algae and fungi.
Botany. the stalklike portion of a stamen, supporting the anther.
Ornithology. the barb of a down feather.
(in a light bulb or other incandescent lamp) the threadlike conductor, often of tungsten, in the bulb that is heated to incandescence by the passage of current.
Electronics. the heating element (sometimes also acting as a cathode) of a vacuum tube, resembling the filament in an incandescent bulb.
Astronomy. a solar prominence, as viewed within the sun's limb.
Origin of filament
1585–95; <New Latin fīlāmentum, equivalent to Late Latin fīlā(re) to wind thread, spin (see file1) + Latin -mentum-ment
Each magnificent wing is covered in billions of tiny filaments, each a tenth of the width of a human hair.
Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Environmentalism - Issue 90: Something Green|Anastasia Bendebury & Michael Shilo DeLay|October 7, 2020|Nautilus
Give Dan Rhodes a small sample of a novel polymer, and he’ll figure out how to extrude it into a filament, and how to fine-tune the process to see whether the material can be made to work in high-speed manufacturing.
Unmade in America|Tate Ryan-Mosley|August 14, 2020|MIT Technology Review
The team actually gathered data from the filament back in 2014 during a single eight-hour stretch, but the data sat waiting as the radio astronomy community spent years figuring out how to improve the calibration of LOFAR’s measurements.
The Hidden Magnetic Universe Begins to Come Into View|Natalie Wolchover|July 2, 2020|Quanta Magazine
The B voltage gives the plate a positive charge to attract electrons from the filament.
Whatever Happened to the "B" Battery?|Megan McArdle|December 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
When you connect the A battery, the filament of the tube is heated to release negatively charged electrons.
Whatever Happened to the "B" Battery?|Megan McArdle|December 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Electrons travel through the partial vacuum inside the tube, flowing from the filament to the positively charged plate.
Whatever Happened to the "B" Battery?|Megan McArdle|December 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Many tubes also have small structures, known as grids, between the filament and the plate.
Whatever Happened to the "B" Battery?|Megan McArdle|December 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
There is no oxygen to combine with the filament; so the lamp does not burn out.
Common Science|Carleton W. Washburne
The filament can be instantly burned out by passing a current of too high pressure through it.
Things a Boy Should Know About Electricity|Thomas M. (Thomas Matthew) St. John
The filament of an electric lamp is very fine and therefore offers considerable resistance.
Common Science|Carleton W. Washburne
That is all right, but while they were away the grid got some electrons from the filament to take their places.
Letters of a Radio-Engineer to His Son|John Mills
The audion is a glass bulb like an electric light bulb which has in it a thread, or filament, of metal.
Letters of a Radio-Engineer to His Son|John Mills
British Dictionary definitions for filament
filament
/ (ˈfɪləmənt) /
noun
the thin wire, usually tungsten, inside a light bulb that emits light when heated to incandescence by an electric current
electronicsa high-resistance wire or ribbon, forming the cathode in some valves
a single strand of a natural or synthetic fibre; fibril
botany
the stalk of a stamen
any of the long slender chains of cells into which some algae and fungi are divided
ornitholthe barb of a down feather
anatomyany slender structure or part, such as the tail of a spermatozoon; filum
astronomy
a long structure of relatively cool material in the solar corona
The part of a stamen that supports the anther of a flower; the stalk of a stamen. See more at flower.
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.
A wire that acts as the cathode in some electron tubes when it is heated with an electric current.
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.