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Rope vs. String — What's the Difference?

By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on November 4, 2023
Rope is a thick, strong, heavy cord of twisted fibers, while string is a thin cord of twisted fibers.
Rope vs. String — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Rope and String

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Key Differences

A rope is typically made of long fibers twisted or braided together to provide strength. Strings, by contrast, are made of thinner fibers and are much lighter and less robust than ropes. Ropes are used when strength and durability are needed, like in climbing or towing, while strings are suited for tasks like tying packages or as part of musical instruments.
The diameter of a rope is usually much greater than that of a string. Ropes can hold substantial weight, support climbing, and secure boats, underscoring their utility in activities requiring strong binding and support. String is better for crafts, sewing, and wrapping, showcasing its role in more delicate applications where finesse is important.
Material composition also differs; ropes are often composed of materials like hemp, nylon, or polypropylene, designed to endure strain and friction. String is typically made from cotton, linen, or synthetic fibers like polyester, which suffice for lighter applications and offer flexibility rather than brute strength.
The manufacturing process of rope involves multiple strands being twisted or braided to increase tensile strength. String's manufacturing may involve similar processes but on a much smaller scale, reflecting its intended use in less strenuous conditions. The rope's structure is designed to prevent unraveling under tension, whereas string may unravel or break more easily.
In usage, ropes are often associated with industrial, nautical, and outdoor activities. Strings, in comparison, are commonplace in household, art, and leisure activities. This usage reflects the capacity of each; the rope can handle dynamic loads and harsh conditions, while string handles static loads and controlled environments.
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Comparison Chart

Thickness

Thick and heavy.
Thin and light.

Strength

Designed to support heavy weights and tension.
Suitable for light-duty tasks.

Material

Made of hemp, nylon, or polypropylene.
Often made of cotton, linen, or synthetic fibers.

Usage

Used in climbing, towing, and boating.
Used in crafts, tying, and musical instruments.

Durability

High durability, resistant to wear and friction.
Less durable, not intended for high-stress situations.

Compare with Definitions

Rope

A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibers or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting.

String

A thin cord of light fibers.
She tied the package with a piece of string.

Rope

A flexible heavy cord of tightly intertwined hemp or other fiber.

String

Can be used for securing light objects.
They hung ornaments using silver string.

Rope

A string of items attached in one line, especially by twisting or braiding
A rope of onions.

String

Material made of drawn-out, twisted fiber, used for fastening, tying, or lacing.

Rope

A sticky glutinous formation of stringy matter in a liquid.

String

A strand or cord of such material.

Rope

A cord with a noose at one end for hanging a person.

String

A cord stretched on an instrument and struck, plucked, or bowed to produce tones.

Rope

Execution or death by hanging
To die by the rope.

String

Strings The section of a band or orchestra composed of stringed instruments, especially violins, violas, cellos, and double basses.

Rope

A lasso or lariat.

String

Strings Stringed instruments or their players considered as a group.

Rope

Ropes(Sports) Several cords strung between poles to enclose a boxing or wrestling ring.

String

Something resembling a string or appearing as a long, thin line
Limp strings of hair.

Rope

Ropes(Informal) Specialized procedures or details
Learn the ropes.
Know the ropes.

String

A plant fiber.

Rope

(Baseball) A line drive.

String

(Physics) One of the extremely minute objects that form the basis of string theory.

Rope

To tie, fasten, or attach with a rope or other cord.

String

A set of objects threaded together or attached on a string
A string of beads.

Rope

To enclose, separate, or partition with a rope or other cord
Rope off the scene of the crime.

String

A number of objects arranged in a line
A string of islands.

Rope

To catch with a rope or lasso.

String

(Computers) A set of consecutive characters.

Rope

(Informal) To persuade or manipulate (someone)
My boss roped me into attending the ceremony.

String

A series of similar or related acts, events, or items
A string of victories.

Rope

(uncountable) Thick strings, yarn, monofilaments, metal wires, or strands of other cordage that are twisted together to form a stronger line.
Nylon rope is usually stronger than similar rope made of plant fibers.

String

A set of animals, especially racehorses, belonging to a single owner; a stable.

Rope

(countable) An individual length of such material.
The swinging bridge is constructed of 40 logs and 30 ropes.

String

A scattered group of businesses under a single ownership or management
A string of boutiques.

Rope

A cohesive strand of something.
The duchess wore a rope of pearls to the soirée.

String

A group of players ranked according to ability within a team
He made the second string.

Rope

A shot of semen that a man releases during ejaculation.

String

A complete game consisting of ten frames in bowling.

Rope

(dated) A continuous stream.

String

A stringboard.

Rope

(baseball) A hard line drive.
He hit a rope past third and into the corner.

String

A stringcourse.

Rope

(ceramics) A long thin segment of soft clay, either extruded or formed by hand.

String

(Games) The balk line in billiards.

Rope

(computer science) A data structure resembling a string, using a concatenation tree in which each leaf represents a character.

String

(Informal) A limiting or hidden condition. Often used in the plural
A gift with no strings attached.

Rope

A kind of chaff material dropped to interfere with radar consisting of foil strips with paper chutes attached.

String

To fit or furnish with strings or a string
String a guitar.
String a tennis racket.

Rope

(Jainism) A unit of distance equivalent to the distance covered in six months by a god flying at ten million miles per second.

String

To stretch out or extend
String a wire across a room.

Rope

(jewelry) A necklace of at least 1 meter in length.

String

To thread on a string
String popcorn.

Rope

(nautical) Cordage of at least 1 inch in diameter, or a length of such cordage.

String

To arrange in a line or series
Strung the words into a sentence.

Rope

(archaic) A unit of length equal to 20 feet.

String

To fasten, tie, or hang with a string or strings
String a hammock between trees.

Rope

(slang) Rohypnol.

String

To strip (vegetables) of fibers.

Rope

Semen being ejaculated.

String

To extend or progress in a string, line, or succession
"We followed the others stringing through the narrow paved paths" (Susan Richards Shreve).

Rope

(with "the") Death by hanging.
The murderer was sentenced to the rope.

String

(countable) A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together.

Rope

(in the plural) The small intestines.
The ropes of birds

String

(uncountable) Such a structure considered as a substance.

Rope

(transitive) To tie (something) with rope.
The robber roped the victims.

String

(countable) A thread

Rope

(transitive) To throw a rope (or something similar, e.g. a lasso, cable, wire, etc.) around (something).
The cowboy roped the calf.

String

(countable) Any similar long, thin and flexible object.

Rope

(intransitive) To climb by means of a rope or ropes.

String

(musical instrument) A segment of wire (typically made of plastic or metal) or other material used as vibrating element on a musical instrument.
A violinstring
A bowstring

Rope

(intransitive) To be formed into rope; to draw out or extend into a filament or thread.

String

(sports) A length of nylon or other material on the head of a racquet.

Rope

To commit suicide, particularly by hanging.
My life is a mess; I might as well rope.

String

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 string of shells or beads
A string of sausages

Rope

A large, stout cord, usually one not less than an inch in circumference, made of strands twisted or braided together. It differs from cord, line, and string, only in its size. See Cordage.

String

(countable) A cohesive substance taking the form of a string.
The string of spittle dangling from his chin was most unattractive

Rope

A row or string consisting of a number of things united, as by braiding, twining, etc.; as, a rope of onions.

String

(countable) A series of items or events.
A string of successes

Rope

The small intestines; as, the ropes of birds.

String

(countable) The members of a sports team or squad regarded as most likely to achieve success. (Perhaps metaphorical as the "strings" that hold the squad together.) Often first string, second string etc.

Rope

To be formed into rope; to draw out or extend into a filament or thread, as by means of any glutinous or adhesive quality.
Let us not hang like ropingiciclesUpon our houses' thatch.

String

(countable) In various games and competitions, a certain number of turns at play, of rounds, etc.

Rope

To bind, fasten, or tie with a rope or cord; as, to rope a bale of goods.

String

(collective) A drove of horses, or a group of racehorses kept by one owner or at one stable.

Rope

To connect or fasten together, as a party of mountain climbers, with a rope.

String

An ordered sequence of text characters stored consecutively in memory and capable of being processed as a single entity.

Rope

To partition, separate, or divide off, by means of a rope, so as to include or exclude something; as, to rope in, or rope off, a plot of ground; to rope out a crowd.

String

A stringed instrument.

Rope

To lasso (a steer, horse).

String

The stringed instruments as a section of an orchestra, especially those played by a bow, or the persons playing those instruments.

Rope

To draw, as with a rope; to entice; to inveigle; to decoy; as, to rope in customers or voters.

String

The conditions and limitations in a contract collectively.
No strings attached

Rope

To prevent from winning (as a horse), by pulling or curbing.

String

The main object of study in string theory, a branch of theoretical physics.

Rope

A strong line

String

(slang) Cannabis or marijuana.

Rope

Street names for flunitrazepan

String

(billiards) Part of the game of billiards, where the order of the play is determined by testing who can get a ball closest to the bottom rail by shooting it onto the end rail.

Rope

Catch with a lasso;
Rope cows

String

The buttons strung on a wire by which the score is kept.

Rope

Fasten with a rope;
Rope the bag securely

String

The points made in a game of billiards.

Rope

A strong cord of twisted fibers.
The sailor secured the boat with a thick rope.

String

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; also called the string line.

Rope

Used for heavy-duty binding or climbing.
They used a rope to scale the cliff face.

String

A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.

Rope

Can be braided or twisted for strength.
The braided rope proved exceptionally durable.

String

(archaic) A fibre, as of a plant; a little fibrous root.

Rope

A tool in rescue operations.
Rescue teams sent down a rope to lift the injured hiker.

String

(archaic) A nerve or tendon of an animal body.

Rope

Integral in nautical applications.
The crew coiled the ropes neatly on the deck.

String

(shipbuilding) An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.

String

(botany) The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericarp of leguminous plants.
The strings of beans

String

(mining) A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.

String

(architecture) A stringcourse.

String

A hoax; a fake story.

String

Synonym of stable

String

(oil drilling) A column of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid (via the mud pumps) and torque (via the kelly drive or top drive) to the drill bit.

String

(transitive) To put (items) on a string.
You can string these beads on to this cord to make a colorful necklace.

String

(transitive) To put strings on (something).
It is difficult to string a tennis racket properly.

String

(intransitive) To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.

String

To drive the ball against the end of the table and back, in order to determine which player is to open the game.

String

(birdwatching) To deliberately state that a certain bird is present when it is not; to knowingly mislead other birders about the occurrence of a bird, especially a rarity; to misidentify a common bird as a rare species.

String

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.
Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string.

String

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.

String

A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.

String

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.
Me softer airs befit, and softer stringsOf lute, or viol still.

String

The line or cord of a bow.
He twangs the grieving string.

String

A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.
Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom.

String

A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
The string of his tongue was loosed.

String

An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.

String

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.

String

A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.

String

Same as Stringcourse.

String

The points made in a game.

String

In various indoor games, a score or tally, sometimes, as in American billiard games, marked by buttons threaded on a string or wire.

String

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.

String

A hoax; a trumped-up or "fake" story.

String

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.

String

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.

String

To furnish with strings; as, to string a violin.
Has not wise nature strung the legs and feetWith firmest nerves, designed to walk the street?

String

To put in tune the strings of, as a stringed instrument, in order to play upon it.
For here the Muse so oft her harp has strung,That not a mountain rears its head unsung.

String

To put on a string; to file; as, to string beads.

String

To make tense; to strengthen.
Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood.

String

To hoax; josh; jolly; often used with along; as, we strung him along all day until he realized we were kidding.

String

To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.

String

A lightweight cord

String

Stringed instruments that are played with a bow;
The strings played superlatively well

String

A tightly stretched cord of wire or gut, which makes sound when plucked, struck, or bowed

String

A sequentially ordered set of things or events or ideas in which each successive member is related to the preceding;
A string of islands
Train of mourners
A train of thought

String

A linear sequence of symbols (characters or words or phrases)

String

A tie consisting of a cord that goes through a seam around an opening;
He pulled the drawstring and closed the bag

String

A collection of objects threaded on a single strand

String

A necklace made by a stringing objects together;
A string of beads
A strand of pearls

String

Thread on or as if on a string;
String pearls on a string
The child drew glass beads on a string
Thread dried cranberries

String

Add as if on a string;
String these ideas together
String up these songs and you'll have a musical

String

Move or come along

String

Stretch out or arrange like a string

String

String together; tie or fasten with a string;
String the package

String

Remove the stringy parts of;
String beans

String

Provide with strings;
String my guitar

String

Suitable for binding small items.
The string held the flowers together in a bunch.

String

Often used in crafting.
He used colorful string to decorate the gift.

String

A component in musical instruments.
The violin's string broke during the performance.

Common Curiosities

How is rope strength measured?

Rope strength is often measured in tensile strength and load capacity.

Can string be used for climbing?

No, string is too thin and not strong enough for climbing; rope is used instead.

Are ropes and strings made of the same materials?

They can be, but ropes are typically made from stronger materials to support greater loads.

Can ropes be used in musical instruments?

No, ropes are too thick and lack the required tension properties that strings provide for instruments.

Do strings come in different thicknesses?

Yes, strings vary in thickness but are generally much thinner than ropes.

What is the largest size a string can be before it's considered a rope?

There is no strict boundary, but anything thicker than a 1/4 inch is typically considered a rope.

Can I use string as a temporary fix for a broken rope?

It's not recommended, as string does not have the same load-bearing capacity as a rope.

What defines a rope?

A rope is a thick, strong cord made by twisting or braiding fibers together.

What is string used for?

String is used for light-duty tasks like tying and crafts.

Is string suitable for outdoor activities?

String is generally not suitable for harsh outdoor activities where a rope would be recommended.

What's the difference between twine and string?

Twine is a type of string, usually thicker and stronger for tasks like gardening.

How long can string last?

The longevity of string depends on its material and environment, but it's generally less durable than rope.

What maintenance does a rope require?

Ropes require regular inspection for fraying and damage, and should be stored dry and coiled.

Are there specific types of ropes for different uses?

Yes, ropes are specialized by use, such as static ropes for climbing or battle ropes for exercise.

Are there waterproof ropes and strings?

Yes, both ropes and strings can be waterproofed or made from waterproof materials.

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Author Spotlight

Written by
Tayyaba Rehman
Tayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.

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