thatch
noun
Also a material, as straw, rushes, leaves, or the like, used to cover roofs, grain stacks, etc.
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thatch
1 American
[thach]
/ θætʃ /
noun
-
thatches
plural
-
Also a material, as straw, rushes, leaves, or the like, used to cover roofs, grain stacks, etc.
-
a covering of such a material.
-
the leaves of various palms that are used for thatching.
-
something resembling thatch on a roof, especially thick hair covering the head.
a thatch of unruly red hair.
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Horticulture. a tightly bound layer of dead grass, including leaves, stems, and roots, that builds up on the soil surface at the base of the living grass of a lawn.
verb (used with object)
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thatches,
present (3rd person singular)
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thatched,
past participle, past
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thatching
present participle
-
to cover with or as if with thatch.
-
Horticulture. to remove thatch from (a lawn); dethatch.
Thatch
2
American
[thach]
/ θætʃ /
noun
thatch
British
/ θætʃ /
noun
-
-
Also called: thatching. a roofing material that consists of straw, reed, etc
-
a roof made of such a material
-
-
anything resembling this, such as the hair of the head
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Also called: thatch palm. any of various palms with leaves suitable for thatching
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
thatchsimple
-
thatchessimple
-
have thatchedperfect
-
has thatchedperfect
-
am thatchingprogressive
-
are thatchingprogressive
-
is thatchingprogressive
-
have been thatchingperfect progressive
-
has been thatchingperfect progressive
Past
-
thatchedsimple
-
had thatchedperfect
-
was thatchingprogressive
-
were thatchingprogressive
-
had been thatchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of thatch
before 900; (v.) Middle English thacchen, variant (with a from thak > dial. thack ) of thecchen, Old English theccan to cover, hide; cognate with Dutch dekken ( see deck), German decken, Old Norse thekja; (noun) Middle English thacche, variant (with ch from the v.) of thak
Explanation
When straw or other dried grasses are used to cover a roof, it's called thatch. People have used thatch to keep the rain out for at least 300 years. Although dry grasses might not seem like the sturdiest roof, thatch is actually a rain-proof, insulating substance. These days it's most common to find thatched roofs in developing countries, but some people use it for a deliberately rustic look. If someone describes your hair as thatch, they mean it looks as dry, messy, and thick as the thatch used as a roofing material. The root of thatch means "to cover."
Vocabulary lists containing thatch
"The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We are introduced to a former housemaid, who, before being diagnosed as insane, was “up before dawn with scuttle bucket and shovel, home in the dark to the thatch dripping soot.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Surrounded by floodwaters, their hamlet of thatch and mud homes had been battling a massive outbreak of cholera, a deadly disease spread by poor sanitation.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025
Possible ground settling and shifting, tree roots and thatch buildup can affect in-ground irrigation systems.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
A second pass occurs in the later, dry season to remove what’s known as thatch from the ground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
The stitched patterns of light through thatch when morning entered the darkness where we slept, I against one wall, he against the other.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Examples include Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, which offers drug prices at a transparent low price, and Thatch, which helps employees navigate insurance to choose better plans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
Lennox said at the moment, the Old Thatch earns 14 pence from every pint of beer while the tax office gets £2.50, or about $3.34.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026
The Old Thatch landlord Andy Lennox said the protest was a last resort after multiple campaigns spelling out the need for tax cuts ended with higher taxes for hospitality.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
Thatch carried on her father’s legacy when she succeeded him in 1996.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2021
And that coming generations won't have any hair at all— Well—they'll never know an anguish that can adequately match With the pangs of watching day by day the thinning of your Thatch!
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, December 19, 1891 by Various
Thurman is a natural at intoning amid the wispy thatches of underscoring, and she sometimes tries to inject some attitude into the dry libretto.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2022
Bryson DeChambeau fought the wind blowing in from the English Channel and the thick thatches of rough at Royal St. George’s.
From Fox News ● Jul. 15, 2021
Bryson DeChambeau’s new muscles were no match for the wind blowing in from the English Channel and the thick thatches of rough at Royal St. George’s.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2021
Six women raise their hands, flashing thick thatches of unshorn underarm hair.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2021
As we passed the projecting tooth of Shark Point, a sandspit garnished with mangroves and dotted with palmyras, the land-squali flocked from their dirty-brown thatches to the beach, where flew the symbolic red flag.
From Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
The faint cry of protesters could be heard in the distance as Charles visited Umana Yana, a thatched hut and traditional Indigenous gathering place.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
The building was made from locally gathered clay and peat, with sedge grass for its thatched roof.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
Shortly after arriving in Pyongyang, the American evangelist visited a humble thatched hut on the outskirts of Pyongyang where Kim was said to have been born on April 15, 1912.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
Does your house have a concrete roof or a thatched one?
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Above these was a small balcony backed by a curtain and, above that, a thatched roof which covered the rear half of the stage.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
"People were still thatching roofs and replanting," she said, warning that "for those communities, it will be even harder to reset".
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2025
And crafts can be up for consideration, such as basket-weaving, thatching and the art of creating tartan and tweed.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2023
The effect of the thatching — a discrete work in itself, called “Facade” — is startling and has drawn enormous online attention.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2022
Endless cross thatching in a bowl of noodles, meat, and cheese, that may or may not hold together when you invert the whole concoction onto a plate.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2019
Rain spattered his skin, coming in cold where palm thatching was already tearing away under the increasing battery of the winds.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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