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.
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.
to cover with or as if with thatch.
Horticulture. to remove thatch from (a lawn); dethatch.
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
Also called: thatch palm. any of various palms with leaves suitable for thatching
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
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
The frequent cutting also reduces thatch buildup and creates healthier, thicker grass, while minimizing the use of pesticides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 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
Most of the models simply outlined walls, fences, and doors with loose stones, but some were elaborate constructions complete with plastic model cars, toy animals, and thatch roofs.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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
Fred Thatch Jr. added 17 points and 13 rebounds.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2022
She and her partner Lawrence Steyn, another former guide, recently launched an online platform that aims to connect tourists with ethical safari camps and guides, called Thatch and Earth.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2021
Thatch as a roofing material will soon have altogether vanished with other features of vanishing England.
From Vanishing England by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
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
In the other direction, renters outnumber homeowners living in bungalows and simple two-story houses with thatches of neat front lawns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2020
Beneath the thatches of their hovels small The terror dwells of feeling It is nigh.
From Poems of Emile Verhaeren by Verhaeren, Emile
The Carney homestead, located in the townland of Ayle, was a standard rural dwelling of the time: a thatched cottage with two windows in the front.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Many of Raja's community, more widely known as the Onge, still live in near isolation in neat thatched homes on stilts in coastal forests.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
It evokes a thatched hut, a giant upturned basket and, especially, a vacant, human-size cage—a trap in want of prey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
The homes are filled with quirky leaded glass windows, uneven angles and heaps of wood shingles, resembling a thatched straw roof.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
Later, when outer walls are to be finished, thatched, the size must change, and as though given new orders by telephone, all the workers shift the search to the new twigs.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
"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
Nhamo found nothing alarming in the dirt around the thatching grass.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
